ANALYSIS AND VALIDATION OF THE CONCEPT OF SPIRITUALITY AND ITS APPLICABILITY IN HEALTH CARE

Abstract

Objective: To analyze, systematize and validate a concept of spirituality in order to contribute to its integration into health care. Material and Method: Exploratory study based on concept analysis and validation using a qualitative approach. To analyze the concept, the Walker and Avant technique was used with six stages: selection of the concept, determination of the analysis objectives, identification of concept uses, definition of attributes, identification of antecedents and consequences, and definition of empirical referents; for validation the concept was sent to authors of scientific publications on spirituality, as proposed by Hoskins. Results: The concept was validated by 8 authors and the main improvements suggested were: a) reinforce the aspects related to transcendence; b) include the relationship with divine or sacred religiosity, c) consider the subjectivity intrinsic to human experience; d) re-evaluate the statement that spirituality is always beneficial. Conclusions: Spirituality is a human dimension and reflects the care that is given to life, expressing the way people interrelate and interact
in relation to the circumstances and events associated to it.