This person, (which of course, we are doing this speculatively third or fourth hand here anyhow) but this concerned person you are asking on behalf of, we assume it is your friend's father, needs to think about what the goal is here. Okay, this is not going to last very long, no matter what happens. It is very unlikely that the social worker was convinced by the uncle that the doctor was wrong, that his sister was okay to go home. Things just don't happen that way. Doctors do not get overridden by social workers based on what somebody told them.
Possibly other people were involved who wanted this lady sent immediately to a facility. It was not her wish, and going back homewas supported by her brother who does have power of attorney. She went back home, and there was some sort of kitchen fire. The uncle who has power of attorney took this lightly, while other family members immediately jumped on this as evidence she should be gathered up and put in a care facility. I suspect very strongly this would be very much against her wishes and that she is still quite verbal and able to express those wishes.
It would create a hellish family rift if the other brother/sister/family members who thinks she needs immediate placement were to retain an attorney, move to have decision making power taken from her brother, and try to have her declared incompetent, and drag her kicking and screaming into a facility.
While there is disagreement about what SHOULD happen, it doesn't sound as though this uncle is trying to take advantage of his sister. It just sounds like some opinions of other family members differ. This is very common and it is SO VERY easy to be a sideline referee. I suspect that this woman selected this particular brother for the very reason that he would be the one most likely to listen to her wishes.
Dementia is not an all or nothing, "once they've got it, they're gone" condition. It is something that comes on gradually and sometimes is made worse by fatigue, infections, etc. and then when these things are taken care of, the person is back to being more cognizant and competent for a time. This lady may not have much more time left of being on her own, and she may end up at any time having a fall, an accident, or a health crisis that will end all discussion. So the idea of going out and getting an attorney, going through the steps to remove this guardian, having the person declared incompetent, moving her into a facility, assuming control of her care and finances, would be a massive and time consuming process that likely does not need to happen.
As long as the lines of communication between the brothers and sisters is kept open, and they are working together, maybe the best possible level of care for her will become evident pretty quickly. Make sure, those of you who are providing food and care, that this brother who has power of attorney is the one who has to see and interact with her regularly, be the one who has to bring in the food or hire someone to bring it in, make sure you are not just taking on all the responsibility and griping behind his back so he could legitimately say, "I wasn't aware she was this bad!" Don't make it easy for him to keep allowing her to stay alone if she truly should not be without care. Cooperative action between the family members would be so much better than a big lawsuit at this late point. Best wishes in this situation, it is a hard one for the lady and her brother and all the other family members. I do hope this works itself out, as I have said, with eldercare, its usually pretty quick.
