This article presents the context of the emergence and implementation of the National Policy of Humanization (NPH), which was devised as a public policy to address and overcome the challenges perceived by Brazilian society regarding the quality and dignity of healthcare. The aims include redesigning and joint initiatives for the humanization of care, and providing solutions for problems in the field of management and organization of the health workforce. Highlighting it as a public policy, the authors analyze the main focus and theoretical and methodological approaches to cope with problems in management and practice of healthcare, signaling the need to combine strategies in both macro and micro policy areas. The analysis focuses on changes in the composition and strategies of action, which include social mobilization, support to management systems, services and health teams and the development of training processes for institutional stakeholders. The article presents results obtained in the first five years, as well as its limitations and prospects, especially the challenge facing NPH to be seen as a public policy, which cannot be achieved without the mobilization of social forces beyond the State.
Humanization of care; Health management; Public health policy