The interface between physical therapy, bioethics and education: an integrative review

Abstract

Training and education in physiotherapy should consider technical and ethical aspects so that professionals can make prudent and resolutive decisions. The present paper aims to investigate and synthesize scientific production about the interface between physiotherapy, bioethics and education. An exploratory and descriptive study in the form of an integrative review was performed. Data was collected through a survey of original scientific articles in the following databases: Virtual Health Library, PubMed, Scopus and Scientific Electronic Library Online. To analyze and exhibit the data the content analysis and thematic categorization methods were used. There is a shortage of both Brazilian and non-Brazilian studies. Many of these studies are descriptive and only a few include applied contributions from the field of bioethics in health decision making, with interpretations that contextualize Brazilian society and culture especially lacking. There are many deontological references in physiotherapy, which is reflected in training and education programs and lacks deeper bioethical reflections.

Physical Therapy Specialty; Bioethics; Education, higher