The wife of former US president Jimmy Carter, Rosalynn, has entered hospice care at her home in the southern state of Georgia, her family said Friday.

The former first lady, 96, was diagnosed with dementia in May, according to the Carter Center.

She has now "entered hospice care at home. She and President Carter are spending time with each other and their family," their grandson, Jason Carter, said in a brief statement.

He also thanked well-wishers for the "outpouring of love and support."

The family announced in February this year that Jimmy Carter, now 99, entered hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia -- the same modest house he and Rosalynn have lived in since the 1960s.

The one-term Democratic president then surprised many by continuing to receive visits, receive news about the Carter Center's humanitarian work, and even enjoy frequent ice cream, according to his family.

The Carters married in 1946 and hold several longevity records in US politics: the longest-wed presidential couple and, for Jimmy Carter, the oldest-living president in US history.

Carter served as a state senator and governor of Georgia in the 1960s and 1970s before being elected in 1976 to the presidency.

He lost his reelection bid to Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980.

However, his reputation is widely acknowledged as having grown over the years as both he and Rosalynn worked for human rights, democracy and health issues around the world -- all while maintaining a notably humble public image.

sms/mlm