Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter has dementia
Rosalynn Carter, the wife of former President Jimmy Carter and a longtime advocate for expanded access to mental health care, suffers from dementia, the Carter Center said Tuesday.
The announcement came just over three months after the center said Mr Carter, who at 98 is the longest-living president in US history, had decided to forego further medical treatment and go to hospice at the home of the couple in Plains, Georgia.
The center said Tuesday that Ms. Carter, 95, “has continued 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 prevents individuals and their families from seeking and receiving much-needed support,” the center said. “We hope that sharing our family’s news will spark more important conversations at kitchen tables and in doctors’ offices across the country.”
The Carter Center said one in 10 older Americans has dementia, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as a blanket term for a decreased ability to remember, think or make decisions that interfere with daily activities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, according to the CDC.
The Carters have been married for 76 years, the longest marriage in presidential history. It’s a partnership that endured his rise from Georgia politics to the White House and his defeat in the 1980 presidential election, sending the pair home to Plains as political outcasts with a shaky cause.
As the couple reflected on 75 years of marriage in 2021, Mr. Carter that their bond had only deepened in the later years of their lives, as he endured a series of health crises, including a battle with skin cancer melanoma, which spread to his liver and brain.
“We’ve grown closer and closer,” Mr. Carter said.
In the announcement, the center said Ms. Carter had pushed for better mental health care at the Georgia Governor’s Mansion, at the White House and later at the Carter Center, the organization she and her husband founded to promote democracy, peace and health. around the world.
“As founder of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, Ms. Carter often remarked that there are only four types 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 evident in our family and we are experiencing the joys and challenges of this journey. We do not expect to comment further and ask for understanding for our family and for anyone across the country serving in a caretaker role.”