Teaching spirituality and spiritual care in health sciences education: A systematic review

Abstract

Teaching spirituality and spiritual care in health sciences education has been identified as a need to enhance holistic care. However, educators seemed to be unprepared and have insufficient knowledge about how to include spirituality in teaching. This review aimed to systematically review previous literature from 2000 to 2013 regarding the content knowledge and teaching strategies used to teach spirituality and spiritual care in health sciences education. Fifty-three studies met the inclusion criteria for the review and provided suggestions for teaching spirituality and spiritual care in health sciences education. The review was conducted using electronic databases: CINAHL, Educational Resources Information Centre (ERICA), and Science Direct in the Ebscohost search engine. The results suggest that the content knowledge may include concept analysis, self-awareness, cultural beliefs, diversity and social justice, ethics, spiritual competence, person-centred attributes and barriers, evidence-based practice, and possible areas where spirituality and spiritual care may be covered. Furthermore, learning objectives should involve knowledge-based, skills-based learning and attitudes-based learning. Teaching strategies should include educators’ teaching strategies in the classroom, collaborative learning and practice learning. This systematic review provides a framework for designing and developing guidelines for integrating spirituality and spiritual care in health sciences education.