@BlackAmericanoNoSugar we're all raised with talk of "personality", "willpower", "soul" and so on, so it can be hard to face the fact that our brains are physical, and fallible, just like the rest of our bodies. Just as we can walk but still have galloping arthritis and not much in the way of mobility, the brain can be, kind of there but also, just a bit shit.
Getting medical attention is only part of the solution. Unless the problem is florid psychosis, the expectation is that the patient is motivated to take the meds, turn up to appointments and so on. (And here we all give a hollow laugh!).
The reality, particularly in the frail and/or elderly, is that, often, a common root cause is frying the brain along with the rest of the body.
So not only are they "physically" unwell, but also, Mr. Brain tells them, unhelpfully and inaccurately, that no, they're fine, they don't want to go to the appointment, or the appointment was last week, or they have been told not to take those meds, or, they'll "take them later", or, .... Or Or Or....
Anyway, I actually came here to gripe about having to be wildly unsympathetic and brutally persistent (putting it charitably) in getting my ER to phone HMRC to try and get the tax bill paid on time. (We set up a DD for this weeks ago, and there is 0 sign HMRC have done anything about it, like, use it to take the money they're owed, or anything. Grrr).
I actually do understand that when you're old and frail, the slightest thing can tip you out of sorts for ages, but chunky tax bills are one of those things it's bad to stick your head in the sand about.
In a few weeks when the Jan 31st craziness has blown over, I'll check the LPA docs, and if they say I can act now for finance, I might register them with her bank, HMRC etc. Then I can get cracking in, say, May, and go, "I'm doing your tax return Ok?... Here it is, the bill is this much, I'm going to pay it now, is that OK?..." - and leave her to do the stuff she's just fine with, like paying the gardener/plumber/whoever.