I'm hoping set-up an IP camera at my mother's apartment to assist her with medication taking and other daily stuff.
I've dealt with wired cameras and DVR's years ago but the IP systems are new to me.
The plan is to call her on my landline while viewing the camera on my iPhone.
She has Xfinity with wifi but does not use her PC anymore due to her poor eyes, arthritis and especially her failing mind.  Besides that her PC runs XP.
Do I have to have an operational and updated PC on-site to get this done or can these new cameras merely hook-up to the wifi and be up and running?
Do I have to obtain a static IP in order to do this?

Depends on the camera system but to set it up and get everything running, you'll definitely need a functioning system.

Once it's set up though you should be pretty much good to go, I'd recommend connecting the camera through a cable though if you can just for reliability reasons.

And no you don't need a static IP, most cameras run just fine on DHCP. I'd recommend getting a couple Ubiquiti's, they work well and are fairly user friendly.

How about a "box" system that is hardwired to the router?
One that does not require an operational PC or network - such a thing?
What about those stand alone wifi monitoring systems like this:
https://www.motorola.com/us/motorola-focus86t-wifi-hd-home-monitoring-camera/p

I use Blue-Iris software. Controls all cams and allows internet access and phone app.

NVR plugged into router

+

IP camera plugged into NVR

+

App on you phone

=

See mom take meds and do other daily stuff

I picked up 5 Reolink E1 cameras to cover 90% of my dad's house after he wouldn't answer the phone one evening.  My brother was dialing the police for a health check when my dad called him.  The phone had been in the kitchen and he didn't hear it ring.

No NVR required.  No PC needed to set them up.  No subscription.  With the pan and tilt, I can cover entire rooms with a single camera on a shelf.

Setup takes less than 5 minutes per camera but I still didn't want to waist time there if I had issues.  Before ordering, I had copied his SSID & password from his modem and used my 2.4 Ghz guest network as an exact copy of his.  When I got to his house, I just walked through, plugging up each camera to an outlet.  As each one powered up and connected to the network, it also appeared on my phone's app.

If you dont want to put all the work into it check out a wyze camera

$30 and an internet connection

I have an Amazon one that my pops sent me.  I plugged it into the wall, set it up via the AP and that was it.  Access from the app.  That's it.