Social isolation among older adults is a growing challenge in rural primary healthcare. Standard, time-limited consultations often fail to capture psychosocial needs, loss of dignity, and reduced social participation. Person-centered, community-based approaches are needed to address aging more holistically. Oral history offers a narrative-based tool grounded in active listening.The intervention was conducted in Vasilies, a rural community of approximately 1,000 residents in the Heraklion region of Crete. Ten older adults participated voluntarily. Oral history was used as both a qualitative research method and a community-based intervention. Structured and semi-structured interviews were held in non-clinical settings, focusing on life trajectories, social roles, and experiences of aging. Narratives revealed psychosocial and social determinants of health rarely identified in routine medical practice. Insights informed locally relevant community responses.This case integrates oral history into rural primary care as both an intervention and a diagnostic tool, positioning older adults as active contributors to community life.Oral history proved empowering and ethically meaningful. Future applications should include appropriate training, follow-up, and mixed-method evaluation.This experience demonstrates that oral history can bridge the gap between clinical care and community life, revealing dimensions of health that are otherwise overlooked. By aligning healthcare practice with narrative meaning-making, primary care can move toward a more holistic and dignified model of aging care. Additionally, the community benefits through the preservation of collective memory and intergenerational knowledge transfer.Oral history is a feasible, complementary tool that supports a dignified, person-centered approach to aging and community health in rural primary care, while also enabling targeted community-level interventions that address social determinants of health and, consequently, contribute to improved population health.