Does Positive Ageing Week reflect the true lives of older people today or is it just another clever marketing ploy? Sylvia Thompsonvisits Positive Ageing town, Athy, Co Kildare, to find out
DRESSED IN THE official garb of a town crier, Mark Chanders (52) accompanied sandwich-board man, Dave Henshaw (68) through the midlands town of Athy last Friday, spreading the word about the River Barrow canoe trip, the vintage car and motorbike rally, dances and céilís planned for the town's Positive Ageing Week.
Now in its third year as a "Positive Ageing" town, Athy is one of 10 towns to have received this title from national co-ordinators, Age Action Ireland.
Throughout the week, older people are offered free taxis and buses to attend the events, all of which are admission free. Some of the shops also offer a 10 per cent discount on certain items and the solicitors are writing wills for free for those over 65. But what does it really mean to the older people of Athy to be a positive ageing town? Does it reflect a healthier attitude to ageing, a more vibrant community spirit or is it just a tokenistic gesture in this era of clever marketing?
Wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "Older and Bolder" emblazoned across it, Pat Henshaw (78) is part of the group promoting Positive Ageing Week. "The slogan explains a lot. There's no point in giving up when you get to retirement age when you are still able for lots of challenges," she says.
John Shaughnessy (51), the caretaker of Athy library and chairman of the Age Action committee, gives freely of his time this week and throughout the year to encourage older people to join in whatever they can. "I like helping people do things," he says, as he introduces a group of older people participating in a computer course in the library.
John Wall (69) is one of the course participants. Born and reared in Athy, a stroke at the age of 65 prevented him from continuing his job as a truck mechanic. "I was planning to work for the rest of my life but I couldn't," he says. "Athy is a town in the process of change. It used to be a major town in Kildare but it slipped back. Carlow and Newbridge have left us behind, but I wouldn't live anywhere else."
Since his enforced retirement, Wall has embarked on a degree in humanities at St Patrick's College, Carlow. "The chances are there and you have to avail of them," he says, adding that each of his three children had a good education, something that wasn't available to him when he was younger. When asked if there were things he could change in his life, he says he is happy enough but would like more access to people in authority, such as the gardaí, councillors and semi-state bodies.
Some of the older people complain that Athy has changed completely in the past 10 years, with an influx of apartments and new houses, and people moving there from different parts of the country. The population of Athy doubled between the 2002 and 2006 census and stands at 9,000 today - 20 per cent of the population is aged over 65.
The traffic congestion on Friday morning is testament to this population growth and every older person I speak to mentions the problems they encounter on the town's noisy, busy streets. It makes one realise that the UN concept of age-friendly urban spaces has certainly not been prioritised in Irish towns. However, as the social isolation of older people increases, so do the efforts of voluntary organisations such as Age Action Ireland to provide opportunities to do things and meet people.
"Last year, there were two people who were friends in school but who hadn't met in more than 40 years who met each other again at one of the events we organised," says Pat Henshaw.
The speed of change and the busy lives of younger generations are common remarks made by every group of older people I met, yet many don't want to become overly involved in the younger generation's whirlwind lifestyles and instead want to keep company with people their own age. "It's so hard for the younger generation now because children's lives have to be managed so much more, but I think it's important for older people not to be at the beck and call of their children for childcare," says Dave Henshaw, Pat's husband. "Towns like Athy are great places for people to grow old in because you can build friendships and rely on each other when you need to."
A visit to HSE-funded St Vincent's Hospital in Athy leaves a much bleaker impression of ageing in Ireland. The 199-bed hospital is the biggest referral centre for highly dependent older people in the west Wicklow and Kildare region. "About 50 per cent of our patients have chronic medical conditions and 70 per cent of all our patients are over 80. Many of them are also in wheelchairs," explains Helen Dreelan, director of nursing at St Vincent's.
Dreelan says there has been a significant increase in the number of patients who need constant help with basic hygiene and feeding. "People are living longer with the developments in surgery and medication, but as people live longer, more of them will have chronic medical conditions."
Mary Curran has been a patient in St Vincent's for the past six years or so. A widow with nine grown-up children, she is happy there and is a regular participant in the extensive hospital's activity programme.
Michelle Wall, the activities co-ordinator, says positive ageing is promoted in the hospital all year round with art, reminiscence and music therapy. "We bring the patients on outings. Transition-year students come in to the hospital every week." The entire programme is funded through local fundraising activities.
On the other side of the town, the plush single-bedded rooms at Clover Lodge private nursing home are in stark contrast to the wards in the pre-cast concrete units added to St Vincent's Hospital in the 1960s.
"There's a shortage of public beds and 80 per cent of the patients here have some sort of subvention," explains John Devoy, co-owner. Currently, there are 25 people waiting for beds at St Vincent's Hospital and Clover Lodge has between 20 and 25 per cent bed spaces available.
Isabelle Calvert (104), Pat Henshaw's mother, is the oldest resident at Clover Lodge, and probably the oldest in Athy. Her strong handshake and warm smile belie her frailty. She has been a widow since the age of 33.
"I don't do anything now but sit in the chair. I'd like to be out and about." Reflecting back on her long life, she says: "I've had a fairly healthy life. I've had illnesses here and there but recovered fairly quickly. I think fellowship is one of the best things in life. I've had many friends. The body wasn't designed to live this long. Im ready to go but there must be something that He wants me to do which is why I'm still here."
The importance of friendship in one's older years is something that Frank O'Brien (86), owner of O'Brien's pub in Emily Square, is also keenly aware of. "A lot of older men who live alone come in to the pub to get out of the house. They might only have two glasses of stout and then get a taxi home."
A busy life in the pub has kept him in good fettle. "I'd be no good for sitting at the fire. You don't feel the time passing when you're working all day."
• Today is UN International Day of Older People
Positive Ageing Week: Events and aims
Positive Ageing Week continues until Saturday with a programme of events around the country co-ordinated by Age Action Ireland (www.ageaction.ie).
The aim of the week is to highlight the positive aspects of ageing and to celebrate the contribution older people make to their communities.
"There are two key messages," says Eamon Timmins, spokesman for Age Action Ireland. "The first is that attitude is the key to positive ageing and there is a lot of life still to be lived when you are older. The second is for communities themselves to recognise the value of older people in their areas."
Approximately 11 per cent of the population is currently over 65. This is set to rise to 25 per cent by 2060.
In addition to the individual events, 10 towns have been selected to be "Positive Ageing Week Towns": Athy, Co Kildare; Arklow, Co Wicklow; Drogheda, Co Louth; Dublin; Dungarvan, Co Waterford; Galway; Kilkenny; Midleton, Co Cork; Sligo; and Mountmellick, Co Laois.
