Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, has chosen to enter hospice care. According to a statement on The Carter Center website, “After a series of short hospital stays, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention.”

The statement added that his family and medical team support his decision, and while Carter’s family appreciates the concern, they request privacy.

Carter is now staying at his home in Plains, Georgia. It’s a small town with only about 550 residents. It’s also where Carter grew up. The residents know him as Mr. Jimmy, a church-going man who was involved with the town’s Boys & Girls Club, which is officially called the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter unit. Carter didn’t want his name to be part of the club’s name, but the board decided otherwise.

The farm where Carter was raised is now a park, but he lives nearby in a home he shares with his wife, Rosalynn. This is where he is in hospice care.

According to Dr. Jerry McQuain, hospice care is an end of life service that focuses “on compassionate care, comfort care, quality of life care.” The focus is not on extending life, but that doesn’t necessarily mean all treatment options end. He explained, “We continue several medications as long as they’re contributing to your comfort, your quality of life and your longevity of life.”

While we don’t know exactly what medical condition Carter is battling, McQuain explained that most often, people enter hospice care when they have dementia, cardiac issues or cancer. He explained, “People live longer with hospice care than they do without hospice care when they’re connected early on in the course of their illness.”

McQuain also explained that hospice care doesn’t necessarily mean death is in the immediate future. He said that hospice care is “because you may pass away and within the next six months to a year.”