Religiosity/spirituality and its teaching approach in health courses: A literature review

Abstract

Introduction: Health encompasses not only socioeconomic and political issues, but also encompasses the spiritual dimension, which can be understood by religious and spiritual aspects, both being divergent concepts, although complementary. This dimension has been increasingly researched, and the present work focuses on its teaching in the university environment. Objective: to evaluate how spirituality/religiosity is approached in health courses and how students understand the relevance of these themes in their education. Methodology: This is a qualitative analysis, in which an integrative review of the literature was carried out. The survey was carried out in April 2024, using the Lilacs, VHL, and SciElo databases. The descriptors chosen were "religiosity", "spirituality" and "health students" with the Boolean operator "and". Results: Among the courses, nursing and medicine stood out, with Psychology and Dentistry being the least. In addition, it is clear that universities do not provide more in-depth studies on teaching methodologies and content of the disciplines necessary for this preparation, reinforcing, therefore, the low confidence and hesitation of professionals, whether they are professors or not, to address these aspects during the academic training process. Conclusion: It is essential to invest in and recognize religiosity/spirituality and its influence on the quality of life of students, health professionals and patients who, in view of their weaknesses and vulnerabilities, can feel humanized through the reception and qualified technical conduct of their beliefs, values and life stories.