In this book, Payne illustrates society's inclination to discount and disregard older people and encourages readers to combat their personal biases to improve service care for older adults.
Citizenship Social Work with Older People emphasizes the importance of older people being fully recognized as complete members of society (as citizens) by others and particularly by social work practitioners.
This book actively challenges current theories of aging that foster ideas about the exclusion of older people, and promotes the idea of older people being considered functional citizens and deserving equal treatment during later stages of life. The author provides readers with many valuable resources including case examples and suggestions for how social workers can change their own ideologies about older people, which further aid practitioners in providing quality care and improving the quality of life of their clients.