Mary McEvoy marked a milestone birthday back in October when she turned 70 years old.
The Glenroe star acknowledged that we won’t know what is possible for older people unless people look at them differently.
She reflected on how older people in Ireland are perceived and challenged the thoughts we have around nursing homes.
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Mary pointed out that older people have an incredible amount of wisdom and life experience, and it would be devastating to lose that knowledge.
She told RSVP Magazine: “You really have to look hard on Instagram to find inspirational older women who are choosing to age differently. Once you find them, there’s an awful lot of them. We will never know what an older body can do until we start to push it slightly.
“I’m very aware that we have to be careful, but we have to push the boundaries of ageing. I feel that when you get to your 70s, or even from your 50s onwards, you have so much wisdom, so much life knowledge and sense.
“To be pushed to the side when you have so much left to give is sad. That’s what happens to older people. It’s not just society that does it. You see a lot of people not expecting age to be anything different than diminishment. It can be the opposite.”
The actress was recently speaking to someone about nursing homes and how she doesn’t want to enter one.
“I was talking to someone recently and I said, ‘I would rather collapse and be eaten by my own cats than be put in a nursing home’,” she said.
“That’s not to say there aren’t people who want to go into a home and settle, but what I have seen in my life is that there’s a ‘let’s park the inconvenient old person’. Someone said, ‘You are forced to choose between safety and independence’.
“Nobody is safe. Anybody could fall and hit their head, no matter what age you are. That’s not exclusive to older people. I do agree we are more fragile as we get older, but we’re not old bits of paper to be put in a pile somewhere.
“When I’ve gone to visit somebody that’s in a home, there are people there that nobody goes to see. Those people would be better off in the community, where at least the postman would see them and have a little chat.”
Other countries approach older generations differently, with places in America offering assisted living facilities that have daily events to keep people engaged and active within their community.
Mary believes that Ireland is slowly moving towards this, sharing: “I think it’s happening in Ireland. I remember years ago when I was in Glenroe, I was asked to visit a nursing home. I was introduced to a man sitting in his room. I could see in his eyes that he didn’t care who I was – he didn’t want to see me and he didn’t want to talk to me.
“I didn’t know what to do. I was just standing there like a gob****e. In the end, he told me he had been a journalist. I thought, ‘Would there be any way he could do a newsletter for the home – to use his talent and his ability so he doesn’t lose who he was’.
“It’s very sad. I think we just give up on age. Decisions are made for the old by people who don’t know what it’s like to be old. Older people don’t make their own decisions, they’re decided for.”
The calendar will cost €20 and can be pre-ordered from the shop section of bodyempowerment.fit
Read the full interview in this month's issue of RSVP Magazine - on shelves now
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