What do we know about the teaching of religiosity/spirituality in medical undergraduate curricula? An integrative review

Márcia Rosa da Costa,Paulo Rogério Dalla Colletta de Aguiar,Silvio César Cazella

doi:10.15694/mep.2016.000048

Abstract

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background: There is general agreement between physicians and medical school faculty that health professionals should be aware and know how to deal with patient's spirituality. The spiritual dimension is being included in some University curricula, and a more humanistic health care approach is being advocated. Methods: An integrative review was conducted to gather information about spirituality research in medical undergraduate curricula. The major question to be answered is what we already know about the teaching of religiosity/spirituality (R/S) in medical curricula. Results: The final sample was composed of 21 articles, among which 16 were empirical studies and five were theoretical essays. Most of the publications were from the United States, followed by Brazil, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. Most of the students and teachers believe they must be prepared to address the issue spirituality with patients, despite a lack of consensus about contents, teaching methods and the best moment of teaching during the medical course. Conclusions: Teaching R/S is a developing process which is not yet a global phenomenon, as shown by the fact that publications of only a few countries are available. The subject is relevant and important as a curricular element in medical education, but needs further developments.

Highlights

The relationship between medicine and religion can be traced from the beginnings of the art of medicine to the present days (Calman 2008)
Are medical schools teaching spirituality to their undergraduate students? Three studies answered to this question, showing that the subject spirituality is taught in 90% of universities in the United States (Koenig et al 2010), 59% in the United Kingdom (Neely & Minford 2008), and 40.5% in Brazil (Lucchetti et al 2012b)
The results of the present review show that the subject is relevant, and important as a curricular element in medical education

Summary

Introduction

The relationship between medicine and religion can be traced from the beginnings of the art of medicine to the present days (Calman 2008). Evidence shows that neglecting spiritual needs results in less favorable outcomes for patients, such as reduced quality of life, dissatisfaction with care and increased costs at the end of life (Balboni et al 2010). There is general agreement between physicians and medical school faculty that R/S is important for patients and that health professionals should be aware and know how to deal with this aspect of whole person care (Lucchetti et al 2012a). The spiritual dimension is being included in some University curricula, and a more humanistic and compassionate health care approach is being advocated (Lucchetti et al 2011). There is general agreement between physicians and medical school faculty that health professionals should be aware and know how to deal with patient’s spirituality. The spiritual dimension is being included in some University curricula, and a more humanistic health care approach is being advocated

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion