To the Brazilian National Elderly Health Policy, there are two population megagroups. Representing the first group are the senior citizens considered to be independent, while the second involves fragile senior citizens. Community Therapy is found to be inserted in such a reality as a space to share and to promote elderly mental health. The objective of this study is to better understand the contributions of Community Therapy in the senior citizens' lives. This is an exploratory study with a qualitative approach carried out with 19 senior citizens in a municipal district of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, using a structured interview and field notebook to collect the data. The following thematic categories emerged: sense of empowerment, sharing experiences, contributions of community therapy, and behavioral changes, revealing that Community Therapy represents a strategy which faces challenges lived in the day-today lives of the senior citizens who frequent the encounters. This makes a significant improvement of the community's self-esteem and the construction of a network of solidarity possible in the community.
Health mental; Aged; Primary health care; Nursing