Caregivers in Context: What Dolly Parton Taught Us About Caring for the Caregiver

Caregivers in Context: What Dolly Parton Taught Us About Caring for the Caregiver

By: Jodi Koehn-Pike, Content Development Manager, and Chance Browning, COO, Caregiver Action Network

Few people have shaped American culture quite like Dolly Parton. 

The singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, who died August 25 at age 80, leaves a legacy that extends far beyond songs like “Jolene,” “9 to 5” and “I Will Always Love You.” She used her platform to champion people whose voices or opportunities were too often limited—from women and working people to rural and low-income communities, children without access to books, the LGBTQ+ community, and Black Americans confronting racial injustice. She spoke publicly in support of Black Lives Matter and consistently emphasized dignity, acceptance, and respect for people different from herself. 

Her philanthropy put those values into practice. Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library grew from a small program in rural Tennessee into an international effort that now provides more than three million free books each month to children, regardless of family income. 

And near the end of her life, Dolly gave us another lesson—this time about caregiving. 

When Caring for Someone Else Means Neglecting Yourself 

Caregiving was not just something Dolly supported from a distance. Family responsibility and caring for others were part of her life from the beginning. She grew up as one of 12 children in a family with very limited resources, and her family remained central to her identity. Although she did not have children of her own, she spoke openly about loving her nieces and nephews and seeing a broader purpose in caring for children.  

The most direct caregiving chapter of her later life was her care for her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025 after an illness. In one of her final interviews, Dolly acknowledged that while caring for him, she had stopped paying attention to some of her own health needs. 

She told People that she was dealing with health issues she “just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl.” 

There is no evidence that caregiving caused Dolly’s death. But her experience illustrates something millions of family caregivers know well: when someone you love needs you, your own health can quickly move to the bottom of the list. Love can make it difficult to step away, ask for help, rest, or remember that the caregiver is a person with needs too. 

The doctor’s appointment gets postponed. Exercise disappears. Sleep becomes fragmented. A new symptom is ignored because someone else’s health crisis feels more urgent. 

Over time, those tradeoffs can matter. 

Caregiver Stress Is a Health Issue 

According to Caregiving in the U.S. 2025, the latest study from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving, nearly one in four US adults are family caregivers. 

The research shows the toll caregiving can take. One in five caregivers reports being in fair or poor health, and nearly one in four says caregiving makes it difficult to care for their own health. Many are also balancing employment, children, financial pressures, and increasingly complex medical responsibilities. 

Caregiver health challenges can include: 

  • Delayed medical care and preventive screenings
  • Chronic stress, anxiety, depression and caregiver burnout
  • Poor or interrupted sleep
  • Back pain, injury and other physical strain
  • Reduced exercise and disrupted nutrition
  • Social isolation and loneliness
  • Financial and workplace stress
  • Grief and anticipatory grief
  • Increased cardiovascular health risks associated with prolonged caregiving stress

Research has found particularly significant concerns around sleep and cardiovascular health. A systematic review of caregiver sleep research found poor sleep widespread among family caregivers, while a systematic review of cardiovascular research found evidence of elevated cardiovascular risk among caregivers, particularly linked to factors such as caregiving intensity, psychological distress, poor sleep, and reduced physical activity. 

Caring for the Caregiver 

Dolly’s story reminds us that caregiver self-care isn’t simply about taking a break or finding time for yourself. Caregivers need meaningful support. 

That means keeping your own medical appointments, telling your doctor you’re a caregiver, asking family and friends for specific help, using respite when available, protecting sleep and nutrition, and creating a plan for what happens if the caregiver gets sick or can’t provide care. 

It also means health care professionals, employers, families, and communities recognizing caregivers as people with their own needs. 

When we ask a patient, “Who is taking care of you?” we should also ask their caregiver: 

“Who is taking care of you?” 

Dolly Parton spent much of her life caring for and giving to others—her family, children she would never meet through her literacy work, communities affected by disasters, people who felt different or overlooked, and ultimately to the husband she loved for nearly six decades. 

Her experience leaves America’s family caregivers with a simple but important reminder: 

Caring deeply for someone else should not mean disappearing from your own care plan. 

Caregiver Support and Resources 

If caregiving is affecting your physical health, mental health, sleep, work or ability to manage everyday life, you don’t have to navigate those challenges alone. 

Caregiver Action Network (CAN) provides free education, resources, and support for family caregivers caring for loved ones with chronic conditions, disabilities, disease, or the challenges that can come with aging.  

Explore Caregiver Action Network’s 10 Tips for Family Caregivers: Balancing Caregiving and Self-Care

Connect with the Caregiver Help Desk by calling 855-227-3640 or visiting CaregiverAction.org.

Sources and further reading