Older Mainers feeling sidelined by today’s youth culture, take heart. Your participation is most earnestly sought at a series of public forums scheduled around the state in August, and at the policy-guiding Blaine House Conference on Aging, which will take place in September.

At the regional forums, Maine elders age 60 and over, along with their family caregivers, will be encouraged to identify the lifestyle issues that affect their ability to live happily and independently well into their golden years. The forums are not intended for professional care providers.

It’s an important discussion to have in Maine, which already has the nation’s second-highest percentage of citizens over 50 and is on the leading edge of the “baby-boomer wave,” according to Noelle Merrill, director of the Eastern Agency on Aging in Bangor. “We really need to know where to focus our resources,” she said.

Too often, Merrill said, policymakers and professional advocates think they know what seniors want and need to improve their quality of life, but their ideas may not square with the seniors themselves.

Take transportation, for example. Many older Mainers can no longer drive and must rely on public transportation to shop, socialize and get to medical appointments, Merrill noted. Private agencies in rural areas have focused on setting up networks of minivans that travel established routes like a public bus system, but Merrill said that may not be the solution that works best.

“We’re learning that the elderly don’t really want to ride around in a bunch of vans; they want someone to drive up to their house and take them where they want to go and then bring them home again,” she said.

Transportation is just one of the issues that will be up for discussion at the forums, according to Graham Newson, executive director of the Maine Association of Area Agencies on Aging. While people attending the events are encouraged to raise any relevant issues, Newson said, the state is especially keen to know how Mainers feel about some key issues, including healthy aging; safety and protection; housing and personal assistance; long-term caregivers; and community involvement and volunteerism.

“We’re open to discussing any and all issues,” Newson said Friday. “This is a statewide effort to gather grass-roots information; we’re trying our best to locate these forums so people can get to them easily.”

Forum participants will not only identify and discuss the issues, but also vote on their relative importance, creating a prioritized list that will be used to set the agenda at the state’s first Blaine House Conference on Aging in 15 years. About 200 participants will be selected to serve as delegates to the conference, which will take place Sept. 21 at the Augusta Civic Center.

According to Diana Scully, director of the Office of Elder Services in the Department of Health and Human Services, conferences on aging used to take place in Maine every two years, but fell victim to hardline budget cuts in the early 1990s. When the idea was raised recently of reviving the event, she said, “it just felt so right and so timely to do it.”

At the Conference on Aging, issues will be discussed and resolutions drafted for presentation to Maine lawmakers and the governor.

Social attitudes about the elderly need to change, said Scully, who recently finished reading the 2004 book “What Are Old People For?: How Elders Will Save the World,” by William H. Thomas, M.D. “In other cultures, including the native tribes in Maine, elders are revered. We have to change the way we view our elders and the role of their caregivers. I’d like to see the whole care-giving notion get turned on its head so that people who provide these essential services are truly valued.”

There is no charge to participate in the forums, and transportation and other accommodations will be available. Space is limited, so those who wish to attend are requested either to phone their local Agency on Aging at (877) 353-3771 or to download a printable invitation and registration form by visiting www.eaaa.org and clicking on “Events.”

Regional forums

Aroostook Area Agency on Aging

. Presque Isle 9 a.m.- noon

Monday, Aug. 21, Northern Maine Community College.

. Fort Kent 1-4 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 22, University of Maine at Fort Kent.

. Houlton 1-4 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 23, Houlton Regional Hospital. .

Eastern Area Agency on Aging

. Calais 1-4 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 21, Calais Methodist Home.

. Dover-Foxcroft 9 a.m.-noon

Tuesday, Aug. 22, Dover-Foxcroft YMCA.

. Ellsworth 9 a.m.-noon

Wednesday, Aug. 23, Meadow View Apartments.

. Bangor 1-4 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 24, Freeses Assisted Living.

. Millinocket 9 a.m.-noon

Wednesday, Aug. 30, Stearns Assisted Living.

For additional dates in other areas or for more information, visit the Maine Office of Elder Services online at www.maine.gov/dhhs/beas or phone the Agency on Aging toll-free at (877) 353-3771.