My dad is stubborn, will not listen to reason, forgets things and makes up stories with details of things that never were said or never happened. My sister and I want him to listen to reason and be responsible. My sister takes him a cooked meal every 2nd day. It stays in the fridge and after a while he throws it away saying it was off. His vehicle needs repairs so he acts irrationally and says he will sell it and buy another (for which he has NO money). He refuses to listen to my sister and confuses facts and then argues that authorities told him "untrue" things. His licensed expired and he drives around without a license and this does not bother him. He is always the victim. We love him and I (his son) is a missionary in Peru and my sister and my brother-in-law go out of their way to care for him and provide. He refuses to go to any old-age home and refuses to sign any application form for it. He says he will die in his house. How can we approach him in a way that he will understand that we care and we want his vehicle to be safe, we want him to respect that my sister cares for him and tries to do her best and go out of her way to not correct him, but listen to him, love him and calmly explain if he doesnt understand. I am so far away and with COVID I depend on my sister. My mother passed away 10 years ago and she did everything for my father. He is very lonely and feels like people have all rejected him. He has a mobile phone but does not understand anything to do with technology and refuses to use whatsapp or text messages. He says if someone does not call him then they should leave it. I love my father and I phone him as often as he picks up his internet call. I have no other way to phone him. He will go to the store and dictate his pin of his bank card to the teller and tell us "he can trust him".
Any advice would be appreciated please.
This sounds like a man that would leave the facility at any given opportunity.
Since he refuses to go to any facility (and I doubt he has seen any to make up his mind about them) he would have to be declared incompetent and family would have to make the placement.
A visit to an Elder Care Attorney might be the wise thing to do. It is possible that he will have to be appointed a Guardian. (this could be a family member or a court appointed one. If no family wishes to become Guardian then the family will have no say in his future care or where he is placed.)
Call the local police and tell them dad is driving with no license. If his car needs repairs, it will eventually break down. Don't help him get it fixed, or to buy a new one.
Does he have a landline? Can he get one? Take the mobile phone away if he doesn't/can't use it.
Stop trying to get him to "listen" or "be reasonable". He can't. Stop trying to get him to do things he doesn't want to do. Only do what he asks, that makes sense. You may be at the point of stepping back and letting the chips fall, whether that be a fall or medical emergency. We have gotten to that point, as reasonable suggestions are dismissed.
Good luck!