THE number of East Lothian homes in which the head of the family is aged over 75 will double in the next two decades, according to a new report.

The population of the county is expected to be one of the fastest growing in Scotland over the next two decades and experts say it will lead to a surge in older residents.

A report to the East Lothian Integration Joint Board, which met last Thursday, heard latest projections suggest that one in five people living in the county in the year 2037 would be over 65 – an increase of 72.2 per cent on the 2012 statistics.

It said: “The number of households in which the head of household is aged over 75 is forecast to double between 2012 and 2037.”

The report highlights a need to invest more funding in day centres so they can focus on early intervention prevention and outreach, as well as direct care and support.

And it revealed that the number of people aged over 75 in the west of the county over the next three years was nearly 30 per cent higher that those living in the east.

It recommended a number of actions, from ensuring funding was distributed more equally between day centres to inproving the links between the centres and transport facilities.

The report calls for an additional £365,000 to be invested in increasing the hours that day centres operating in East Lothian currently provide to create an additional 8,000 days of support county-wide, with 3,000 extra days created for those in need in Musselburgh.

The report said: “Older people’s day centres are a key resource across East Lothian.

“Day centres could play a key role in preventing admission to hospital and enabling older people to return home following hospital admission.

“As they offer direct personal care, they could increasingly be meeting some of the need that might otherwise be met through care at home services.

“Day centres could play an important part in a whole system’s approach to shifting the balance of care and sustaining individuals safely at home for longer with a better quality of life.”

The board approved the additional funding.