The aim of this study was to comprehend the living process of women in the period of climacteric. It was developed based on qualitative approach, using multi-participatory methods, with nine women of the Third Age Center (NETI), of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil (UFSC). Data was collected through interviews and meetings of groups and analyzed by analysis of the content. From the data analysis, emerged the units of meaning, which led the following categories: affirming one's self as a woman; experiencing the climacteric and ageing; interacting in the day-to-day and maintaining singularities; and opening paths to the experience of citizenship. Based on the result of the study, the living of women in the climacteric period is a complex, dynamic and paradoxical process, in which the aging and the possibility of becoming ill arise as greater challenges, and advances in the personal, cultural and social perspectives as special achievements.
Women's Health; Climacteric; Aging