Rosalynn Carter,
the wife of former President Jimmy Carter and a longtime advocate for
expanded access to mental health care, has dementia, the Carter Center
said on Tuesday.
The announcement
came just over three months after the center said that Mr. Carter, who
at 98 is the longest living president in American history, had decided
to forgo further medical treatment and would enter hospice care at the couple’s home in Plains, Ga.
The
center said on Tuesday that Mrs. Carter, 95, “continues to live happily
at home with her husband, enjoying spring in Plains and visits with
loved ones.”
“We recognize,
as she did more than half a century ago, that stigma is often a barrier
that keeps individuals and their families from seeking and getting
much-needed support,” the center said. “We hope sharing our family’s
news will increase important conversations at kitchen tables and in
doctor’s offices around the country.”
The Carter Center
said that one in 10 older Americans have dementia, which the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention defines as a general term for an
impaired ability to remember, think, or make decisions that interferes
with everyday activities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of
dementia.
“As the founder of the
Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, Mrs. Carter often noted that
there are only four kinds of people in this world: those who have been
caregivers; those who are currently caregivers, those who will be
caregivers, and those who will need caregivers,” the center said. “The
universality of caregiving is clear in our family, and we are
experiencing the joy and the challenges of this journey. We do not
expect to comment further and ask for understanding for our family and
for everyone across the country serving in a caregiver role.”
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