Complex sentence: In Munchausen syndrome by proxy, to gain the attention of medical providers and others, an adult caregiver makes a child or elderly person appear mentally or physically ill or impaired by either fabricating symptoms or actually causing harm to the dependent.
Split into simpler sentences: In Munchausen syndrome by proxy, an adult caregiver makes a child or elderly person appear mentally or physically ill or impaired to gain the attention of medical providers and others. This can be done by either fabricating symptoms or actually causing harm to the dependent.