Work and humanization in health: experiences within SUS

Abstract This paper describes experiences in Brazilian public health during the worst health crisis in Brazilian history, due to the threats of COVID-19. It highlights the work in health in its multiple dimensions and nuances, emphasizing the SUS Humanization Policy (PNH) which recognizes the unfavorable and oppressive conditions in health work. It rejects both the victimized or passive positions workers and managers sometimes take on one hand and the idealization of solutions that stem from outside workers’ context or those which are hetero determined, on the other. The paper describes PNH’s tools as strategies for workers’ collectives to increase their analysis and intervention capacities, thus engaging in new ways of organizing and reinventing work.