Humanization in a Hospital

Abstract

Concern with humanization in hospitals has been an increasingly common feature in debates related to healthcare, public policies and hospital management. However, in most Brazilian hospitals, humanization has not gone beyond the stage of ‘politically correct’ discourse and has not resulted in substantive changes in organizational behaviour. These changes mean a greater challenge especially in hospital organizations, as these are renowned for their complexity, pluralism and knowledge-based work. From an ethnographic experience guided by intervention in the implementation of a humanization programme at a hospital, we analyzed the resulting cultural change, highlighting the obstacles that were encountered and the main actions taken to overcome them. The results of this initiative reveals important lessons: (i) it represents an organizational commitment to the continuous improvement of health services by focusing on one of the most critical elements: human beings; (ii) to implement the initiative, it was necessary to develop social actions such as relationships with the government, market and society; (iii) it was necessary to hold a scientific, albeit incipient, debate concerning the role and relevance of clinical psychology in hospitals. Results were grouped as individual, social and organizational dimensions reflecting substantive aspects of the change process in complex setting.