What Dolly Parton warned about without realizing it, just days before her death

Photo: Jason Kempin / Getty Images

Just four days before she passed away, Dolly Parton spoke publicly about health problems that, she said, she had neglected over the years while caring for her husband, Carl Dean.

“I’m being treated for some health problems I didn’t pay attention to when I was caring for Carl,” she said in one of her final interviews. The statement was overlooked at the time, but after the artist’s death it has resurfaced as part of a larger discussion: what happens to the health of people who spend years caring for a sick partner, parent or family member?

In October 2025, Parton also admitted that during Carl’s illness and after his death she “hadn’t taken care of herself” and had let many things slide. A few months later, in March 2026, she said she felt “exhausted and tired,” and in August she repeated once more that she had neglected her own health problems.

Previous studies have linked long-term caregiving for a sick person to higher levels of stress, tension, anxiety, depression and a weakened immune response. A study published in JAMA in 1999 found that among elderly spouses caring for a partner who reported high stress, the risk of mortality over four years was 63% higher compared to spouses without a caregiving role. Other data also show that those who care for sick family members have on average poorer health and higher levels of problems such as hypertension, depression and anxiety.

That said, such people should be monitored more closely by the healthcare system, asked regularly about their physical and mental state, and given more practical support. And for the people around them, the advice is just as concrete: instead of “let me know if you need anything,” it’s better to act with something specific and practical — you can bring food, take over caregiving for a few hours, or simply give the person the chance to rest, see a doctor or sleep.