La espiritualidad como plataforma pedagógica en la atención interdisciplinaria de los profesionales de la IPS Emmanuel a pacientes crónicos

Abstract

Within the context of mental health care in Colombia, a significant gap persists between comprehensive regulatory frameworks and their actual implementation, which remains largely rooted in biomedical and technocratic models that fragment the human being. The problem addressed in this study lies in the persistence of predominantly biomedical and fragmented practices that frequently relegate essential human dimensions—such as meaning in life, inner experience, human dignity, and individuals' spiritual experiences—to a secondary role. In this regard, the study recognizes the urgent need to integrate pedagogical, clinical, and humanistic perspectives in order to promote a more comprehensive, ethical, and context-sensitive approach to mental health care. The study aims to design, implement, and analyze a critical-participatory educational proposal that fosters the reflective integration of spirituality into the pedagogical strategies of the interdisciplinary team at Emmanuel IPS. This proposal seeks not only to provide conceptual tools but also to promote processes of collective reflection that enable professionals to reframe their practice, strengthen interdisciplinary dialogue, and broaden their understanding of mental health care from a more human-centered and transformative perspective. The research adopts a qualitative approach with a critical-participatory orientation and employs Participatory Action Research (PAR) as its primary methodological framework. In addition, the systematization of experiences is used as a strategy for reconstructing and understanding the participants' lived experiences throughout the process. Content analysis and discourse analysis are also employed through procedures of coding, categorization, and interpretation of meanings in order to examine the conceptions, tensions, and emerging transformations that arise during the implementation of the educational proposal. Among the main findings, the study reveals that members of the interdisciplinary team hold diverse and, in some cases, fragmented conceptions of spirituality, often associating it primarily with religious beliefs or with dimensions perceived as unrelated to professional practice. However, the educational process enabled participants to recognize spirituality as a fundamental human dimension connected to the search for meaning, empathy, active listening, and respectful support. Spirituality emerged as a platform for strengthening critical thinking, enabling both professionals and patients to find meaning and purpose even in contexts of vulnerability. The findings also demonstrate a greater willingness among participants to critically examine their own professional practices and to value interdisciplinary collaboration as a shared space for knowledge construction. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that spirituality can become a meaningful pedagogical and therapeutic component when understood beyond confessional or religious perspectives and when integrated reflectively into professional practice. Furthermore, the findings highlight that critical pedagogy provides a productive framework for humanizing mental health care, fostering professionals' critical awareness, and strengthening practices aimed at the holistic well-being of patients. In this way, the project contributes to rethinking professional education as a more sensitive, dialogical, and socially committed process capable of transforming both institutional practices and the human realities they seek to serve.