Espiritualidade de familiares de crianças e adolescentes em tratamento oncológico: uma revisão integrativa da literatura.

Abstract

To investigate the contributions that spirituality can provide to parents of adolescents and children undergoing cancer treatment. Methods: An integrative review was carried out in the Google Scholar, PubMed and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) and Science direct databases. To select relevant studies, Boolean operators were used, such as "and" and "or", to combine the keywords “câncer”, “spiritualit”y or “religiosity”, and “care”, “treatment”, or “caregivers” After identifying the articles, their main components were analyzed, such as title, summary, objectives, interventions and main results, where these studies were carried out and the study design. Results: 15 articles were selected, all of which highlighted the important contributions of spirituality, both on the part of parents and on the part of patients and health professionals, in cancer treatment. The spirituality of parents of children and adolescents undergoing cancer treatment is often marked by feelings such as hope, the search for meaning and inner strength. Health services have adopted approaches that aim to stimulate the spirituality of these parents, such as offering psychological support, creating spaces for spiritual reflection and facilitating connection with religious and spiritual resources. However, the encouragement of spirituality by health professionals can still vary, depending on the individual training and sensitivity of each professional. Conclusion: spirituality provides emotional and psychological support for parents of adolescents and children undergoing cancer treatment, improves quality of life throughout the illness and recovery, and can provide support for coping with the illness and recovery, it is an important factor in care of these patients and their families.