"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 Carter Center said in a statement posted to Twitter.
"He has the full support of his family and his medical team. The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers," the center added.
Carter, 98, who has lived longer after leaving the White House than any former president in U.S. history, was a Democrat who served from January 1977 to January 1981.
During his presidency, Carter placed a commitment on human rights and social justice, enjoying a strong first two years which included brokering a peace deal between Israel and Egypt dubbed the Camp David Accords.
But his administration hit numerous snags -- the most serious being the taking of US hostages in Iran and the disastrous failed attempt to rescue the 52 captive Americans in 1980.
In November of that year, Republican challenger Ronald Reagan beat Carter at the polls, relegating him to a single term.
He founded the Carter Center in 1982 to pursue his vision of world diplomacy, and he was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his tireless efforts to promote social and economic justice.
In recent years, Carter has received various hospital treatments, including when he revealed in August 2015 that he had brain cancer and was undergoing radiation treatment -- an illness he recovered from, seemingly against the odds.
Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, who is the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church where Martin Luther King Jr preached, wished the Carter family comfort.
"Across life's seasons, President Jimmy Carter, a man of great faith, has walked with God," Warnock tweeted. "In this tender time of transitioning, God is surely walking with him."
In April 2021, US President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, met with the Carters at their home in Plains.
This report was sourced from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.