This article is a review focusing on the proposal of "sheltering, "in the public health system including concept and scope. It discusses proposal application and relationship with the healthcare models of the Unified Health System. Based on more current concepts on "sheltering", systematized in this paper and the principal implementation experiences, the proposal is to determine the three major environments of implementation. It comprises the description of the experience developed in Vitória da Conquista in Bahia, particularly the implementation of a new "sheltering" concept in public healthcare units based on models and change strategies in the public health-care system of the Unified Health System.
Decentralization; SUS (BR); Health services