Following Dolly Parton’s death, one of her recent comments has taken on new meaning. While caring for her husband, Carl Dean, during his illness, Parton later acknowledged that she stopped taking care of herself along the way.

Dolly’s experience reflects something many families understand all too well. Millions of spouses, daughters, sons, and other loved show up as caregivers every day. They coordinate appointments, manage medications, prepare meals, help with personal care, respond to changing needs, and carry the constant responsibility of making sure someone they love is safe.

Over time, their own needs can move farther down the list.

Caregiver wellness is part of good care

At Gianna Homes, we believe caring well for someone also means caring about the people who love them. Professional support should not push family members aside. It should help them remain involved without feeling responsible for carrying every part of the care themselves.

The best care happens when families and professional caregivers work as one team.

“Families are such an important part of the care team. Our role isn’t to replace what they do, but to come alongside them.  We communicate, listen to the people who know their loved one best, share the responsibility of care, and give them more opportunities to simply be together with the person they love.” – Cari Doucette, Executive Director, Gianna Homes

That kind of support can mean creating enough space for a spouse to simply be a spouse again, or an adult child to spend time being a daughter or son instead of always being the caregiver. Getting help doesn’t mean becoming uninvolved; it allows you to be involved in a different way.

Support can look different for every family

There is no single point when a family is “supposed” to ask for help.

For some, support may mean in-home care a few hours a week for companionship, personal care, meals, or help with everyday routines. Others may need more consistent care at home, up to 24 hours a day.

For families navigating dementia, there may also come a time when residential memory care becomes the right fit, particularly when safety needs increase or providing care at home becomes difficult to sustain.

Neither decision means a family has stopped caregiving. It means the care team has grown.

Pay attention to the caregiver, too

If someone you know is caring for an aging parent, spouse or other loved one, don’t only ask, “How are they doing?” Ask the caregiver how they are doing, too.

Are they getting enough sleep? Keeping their own medical appointments? Spending time with family and friends? Able to leave the house without worrying? Do they have someone they trust to step in when they need a break?

Caregiver wellness often starts with recognizing that the person providing the care needs support as well.

Care should create more room for connection

Whether Gianna Homes is providing care in someone’s own home or welcoming a person with dementia into one of our residential memory care homes, our goal is the same: To come alongside the family.

We want families to remain closely involved, informed, and connected. We want to know the person behind the care plan — their routines, personality, preferences, life story, and the people who matter most to them.

Professional caregiving shouldn’t replace family relationships. At its best, it helps protect them.

Wondering what kind of support your family needs?

Gianna Homes provides in-home care for older adults throughout the western Twin Cities, including support for individuals with or without dementia. We also provide small, residential memory care in Minnetonka and Plymouth for people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

If caregiving is becoming harder to manage, you don’t have to wait for a crisis to start the conversation. Tell us what’s working, what’s becoming difficult and what matters most to your family. Together, we can help you think through what the right level of support might look like — for your loved one and for you.

Contact Cari Doucette, our executive director, directly at cari@giannahomes.org or 952-443-6113.

 

Learn more about how Dolly Parton’s health struggle highlights a crisis facing millions of American caregivers in this CNN article: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/27/health/dolly-parton-husband-caregiving-wellness