HOW WILL WE COPE WITH GROWING OLD? Ingrained perceptions | Opportunity, not burden | Debate begins for baby boomers News focus: Projections show that by 2031, 27per cent of the population will be over 65, reports Helen Puttick

The public consultation, which will involve people of all ages, will be used to draw up a blueprint aimed at tackling related issues.

It is hoped the discussion will also challenge ingrained perceptions of pensioners as a burden on society.

Malcolm Chisholm, communities minister, said: "When people think of older people, they think of people with infirmity and weakness, and everyone does eventually need care. But we want to break down the stereotypes because people can have more years of healthy life and can contribute more than perhaps they have in the past."

The proportion of those aged 80-plus is expected to more than double from 3.8per cent in 2001 to 8.2per cent by 2031.

Such statistics are often discussed in the same breath as miserly pension pots and overflowing hospital beds with a sense of impending doom.

The Scottish Executive is questioning whether that is all the baby boomers will mean to society when they come of age.

Mr Chisholm said: "Our fundamental approach to this is to say we should turn on its head the traditional idea that this older population is going to be aburden on society and actually say it is an opportunity for Scotland. "We are mindful of the need for services and support and care . . .No-one is pretending this gets rid of ageing. . .There are big, big service issues we are looking at also."

The public consultation is divided into five different themes: contribution and opportunity; services; health and wellbeing; accommodation and environment; and work. It asks open-ended questions to tease out views on what Scotland needs to put in place to make the most of what older people can offer as volunteers, consumers, workers and experts, as well as what they need if they fall ill.

An advisory group including experts from each of the different fields has also been launched by the executive.

Professor Phil Hanlon, professor of public health at Glasgow University, is a member of the advisory group who is taking a particular interest in the health and wellbeing element.

He said it is not only society which needs to change its view of older people but, in some cases, the elderly themselves.

Professor Hanlon said while death was inevitable, dwindling fitness and deteriorating health should not be regarded as such.

Hesaid: "There is some data to suggest if you indicate to people that as they are getting old their function decreases, they start behaving as if it does. They will slow and get a lot more stooped . . . The whole mind-body link, it is a very real phenomenon. If you feel your age, you act your age. If you do not feel your age, you do not."

Professor Hanlon believes taking on board messages about diet and physical exercise is a way of investing in your retirement just like diverting part of your earnings towards a pension fund.

In this respect, the Strategy for a Scotland with an Ageing Population fits with the country's accelerating drive to tackle public health issues.

It also matches the vision for the future of the Scottish NHS which involves managing ongoing illnesses such as diabetes better in the community to stop patients being rushed into hospital with flare-ups.

But it will incorporate transport issues, housing, aff luence, ageism, and the specific needs of rural Scotland - although some topics such as as pensions and the state retirement age are reserved for Westminster.

Sam Poddar, chairman of care home group Lambhill Court, has long argued for a rethink of the way accommodation is provided for pensioners when they become frail. He said: "My main view is no-one wants to live in a nursing home, they all want to live in the community. The only way we can do that is by giving nursing care in the housing environment."

Mr Poddar wants to see housing complexes developed where people can live independently but also access nursing care if they become less able. "The care village concept would allow husband and wife to stay together if only one became ill, " he said.

The consultation paper on ageing is being circulated by the executive, a website where contributions can be made has been launched and focus groups to debate particular issues are being established including one made up of young workers.

The closing date for submissions is June 5 and the strategy is due to be published by the end of the year.

Mr Chisholm said funding implications of the strategy would be taken into account at the next spending review.

He described it as an exciting time for people his own age. The 57-year-old said: "If you start thinking of life this way, you actually have so many opportunities."

For information on the consultation, visit: www. infoscotland. com/experience.

The five themes

Contribution and opportunity

Do you think there are obstacles to older people contributing to society? What are they and how can they be overcome?

Work

What do you think can be done to help people build up a better income for when they retire?

Environment

What should be done to make sure that our towns and cities and villages and neighbourhoods are suitable for an ageing population?

Health and wellbeing

What are the things that contribute most to good mental health and wellbeing in later life?

Integrated services

What sort of services do you think will be important for older people in the future?