Humanization in health program: dilemmas between the relational and the technical

Abstract

This article aims to reflect upon the Humanization in Health Program proposed by the Ministry of Health as a guideline for care and management practices in all instances of the Unified Health System. According to the documents of the program, "to humanize" is: "to provide qualified care by the articulation of technological advances with welcoming, improving both care settings and working conditions of the providers". However, several meanings for the expression "to humanize" are observed, as well as a diversity of people involved in this process, implying in different developments of the working process and of the provider/user relationship at the care services. The analysis tries to recover how this proposal demands the conversion of a technical dimension of the work of health providers to a relational dimension.