What does “acolher” mean in Portuguese?

Acolher means more than “to receive.” It means to welcome someone warmly and look after them. A family can acolher a child, a town can acolher refugees, and a doctor should acolher every patient without judging them. The noun acolhimento carries the same warmth, which is why you hear it so often in health care, social work and churches.

The adjective acolhedor describes a cosy, welcoming place or person: uma casa acolhedora. In this clip, Dr Drauzio Varella says medicine exists pra aliviar o sofrimento humano (“to relieve human suffering”). Patients treated com desprezo (“with contempt”) because of who they are end up staying away from Brazil’s public health system, the sistema único de saúde (SUS).