The Impact of the MadAlegria Project on Humanized Training and the Development of Empathy among Alumni

Abstract

In recent decades, the remarkable scientific and technological progress in healthcare has been accompanied by a marked distancing in interpersonal relationships within care settings. This scenario contrasts with the definition of health proposed by the World Health Organization — as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity¹ — and with the principles of Brazil’s National Humanization Policy (Política Nacional de Humanização, PNH) within the Unified Health System, which recognizes the centrality of the individual in all dimensions of care².

In Brazil, the concept of health was further expanded in 1990, when it was established as a fundamental human right under the Law 8.080/1990³. In 2003, the National Humanization Policy was created to value all subjects involved in the care process — including users, professionals, and managers — guided by principles such as transversality, inseparability between care and management, and autonomy, co-responsibility, and protagonism of individuals and collectives²^,⁴. Humanization is therefore an essential component of both clinical practice and the education of healthcare professionals. In the training of such professionals, the development of competencies such as empathy, active listening, and receptiveness is fundamental to ensuring patient-centered care⁵⁻⁷. However, the growing gap between technical-scientific advancement and the quality of human interactions in healthcare underscores the need for educational strategies focused on humanized training⁸⁻¹².

Within this context, the MadAlegria Project was created to foster humanized practices in both learning and professional behavior. Established in 2011 by students and faculty members at the University of São Paulo (USP), MadAlegria is a Culture and University Extension Project aimed at promoting humanization in healthcare education—particularly at the undergraduate level—and at improving the hospital environment, making it more welcoming for patients, families, and healthcare staff. Since 2012, the project has incorporated two artistic and playful languages: hospital clowning and storytelling. These approaches are used as pedagogical tools to enhance relational competencies such as empathy, active listening, teamwork, and sensitivity to others’ experiences¹³⁻¹⁵.