Brooke Shields’ Newest Campaign for Women: “There Is Power in Asking”

Brooke Shields has helped lead numerous conversations around topics related to women, such as postpartum depression and empowered aging. Now she’s on a mission to help individuals who are 50 and older feel authority to advocate for their health needs even beyond quote-unquote “women’s health.”

The 59-year-old actor, entrepreneur, activist and producer is partnering with GSK’s  THRIVE@50+ campaign to celebrate individuals who are thriving in their 50s and beyond, while also reminding them to be aware of their risk factors for shingles.

Shields recently sat down with The Healthy by Reader’s Digest to discuss THRIVE@50+ and how she encourages women of all ages to have a voice.

This interview has been edited for length.

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The Healthy by Reader’s Digest: Brooke, we last spoke to you for your partnership with Clos du Bois wines when your message was that we women only get more powerful as we get older. Now, a word like “menopause” is part of our vernacular.

Brooke Shields: Well, thank you. I’m really just trying to live my life in the best way possible and on my terms in the healthiest and the most proactive way. I seem to be continuously faced with opportunities … It’s great advocate for myself [and] to encourage others.

The Healthy: The message of this shingles campaign is “Protect your power.” It’s nice to see that we’re not treating shingles like a condition that only affects the elderly, and you’re encouraging women 50 and older to ask their doctor about shingles and the vaccine.

Brooke Shields: There’s nothing like asking those questions. In partnering personally with GSK’s THRIVE@50+ campaign, I realized I was ignorant to so many of the statistics and the details. I was really not cognizant of my own risk. I’m 59 now, but the minute I turned 50, my risks went up. The point that kept being driven home to me was that 99% of those who are 50 years and older already have the virus that causes shingles inside their bodies. I just thought, I cannot believe this is in my body. I’ve got to get it rid of it.

Now, not everybody is going to get shingles, but that was all I needed to know, and I was really surprised at how little it was talked about, especially for women. I can only speak to being a woman, but really there is power in asking about what your risks are. So, we’re encouraging anybody who’s over 50 to ask your pharmacist about your risk for shingles and vaccination. You’d be surprised when you hear the answers, [but] then you’re in control and you’re advocating for your own health.

The Healthy: You’re also known for how close you are with your two daughters, and you recently spoke about being an empty-nester. How would you characterize the way their generation is coming into womanhood?

Brooke Shields: I do think that this is a generation told [to] voice [their] opinions. I think that it’s wonderful that we’ve given them power to have a voice, [and] I think we have to navigate it. For me, I’ve always encouraged them to express their opinions, but I’ve also driven home the fact that I’ve lived longer. If I’m sharing experience, it’s probably pretty easy to trust said experience. [But] there’s something really great about it because I am seeing young women now and thinking, They’re going to be fine in the world.

But I think it’s important to differentiate between advocating for your health and just having an opinion. Everybody’s entitled to the opinion, but they’re also equally, if not more so, entitled to self-advocate for their own personal health. When we say we urge you to ask about your risk, we urge you to ask about vaccination. That is a different type of voice that we’re giving. Not permission—they don’t need permission—but I do think we have to, in this new era of the way young people are, have the freedom to communicate.

I think it’s incumbent on us to urge them to go past just opinion and actually look for facts and stats, and to put themselves as a priority with regards to their health.

The Healthy: I’m imagining that in this election season, you’re like those of us who are stressing over the gender politics that are so front-and-center. How are you taking care of yourself?

Brooke Shields: I have to be really careful that I don’t go down the doom-and-gloom rabbit hole. I have no choice but to stay on my course and continue to be a woman who will self-advocate, but also wants to really put female reproductive health at the forefront. [This is] important. I would not have my daughter Rowan without it.

But beyond politics, this is the period of time where we are being urged to stand up for ourselves and stand up for our bodies and stand up for our system. And I think that that’s beyond politics. It’s a human right. These are things that, as people, we deserve to be able to understand fully and then take steps for improvement. Whether it’s vaccination information; whether it’s understanding stats; whether it’s understanding anything, I think it’s fraught. This is a very fraught period of time for women in particular.

The Healthy: What’s one self-care routine you refuse to skip?

Brooke Shields: Now it’s sleep. I used to pride myself on existing on no sleep: I would exercise after no sleep, and I would do everything with no sleep. Now I will not sacrifice sleep.

For more wellness updates, subscribe to The Healthy by Reader’s Digest newsletter and follow The Healthy on Facebook and Instagram. Keep reading:

• Which Vaccines Do You Need in 2024-25? Here Are Experts’ Recommendations for All Ages

• How Shingles Can Increase Your Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke

• Maggie Q on Female Fearlessness: “When We Feel Better, We Do Better”

• Sarah Michelle Gellar on the Power of Unplugging: “Everyone You’re Around Is Happier”