HUMANIZATION OF CARE IN HEALTH SERVICES: ETHICAL, EMOTIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVES OF MULTIPROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Abstract

The humanization of care in health services is a fundamental principle of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) and is consolidated as a structural axis of the National Humanization Policy (PNH), created in 2003. This study aims to analyze the ethical, emotional and organizational perspectives that permeate multiprofessional practice in the context of humanized care at different levels of health care, with emphasis on primary, hospital and intensive care. This is an integrative literature review conducted in the SciELO, PubMed and Google Scholar databases, with a time frame from 2022 to 2025. Original articles, systematic reviews and experience reports addressing humanization of care from ethical, emotional and organizational perspectives were included. Results showed that humanization goes beyond cordial treatment and involves complex dimensions such as reception, qualified listening, respect for patient autonomy and co-responsibility of health professionals. In hospital and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) settings, significant challenges related to work overload, inadequate physical structure and high professional turnover were identified, compromising the effective implementation of humanized practices. In primary care, it was found that the bond between professionals and users favors more humanized practices, although gaps remain in the training and awareness of multiprofessional teams. It is concluded that humanization of care is a continuous process that requires cultural, institutional and formative transformations, making the collective engagement of managers, professionals and users essential for its implementation in the SUS context.