This article discusses the emergence of humanization in the contemporary historical and cultural context, at a time when post-modern society is reviewing values and attitudes. The author analyzes the concept of humanization in depth and presents its main approaches: humanization as a movement against institutional violence in the health field, as a principle for humanist and ethical conduct, as a public policy for health care and management in the Unified National Health System (SUS), as a methodology to support participatory management, and as a health care technology. From this perspective, humanization is the process - based on respect and valuation of the individual - that aims to transform institutional culture through the collective development of ethical commitments and methods for action in health care and services management. The essence is the alliance between technical and technological competence and ethical and relational competence. The article briefly discusses the difficulties in achieving humanization in daily institutional life and medical education.
Humanization; Ethics; Management; Violence; Public policies; Practices of health care