DIGITAL PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES FOR MENTAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH CARE

Abstract

This article addresses digital pedagogical practices focused on mental and environmental health care in the educational context, based on the understanding that teaching and learning processes mediated by digital technologies require approaches that consider the integral development of individuals. The research is justified by the increasing challenges related to the psychological distress of students and the intensification of environmental problems, as well as the need to rethink the use of digital technologies beyond an instrumental perspective, integrating ethical, emotional, and socio-environmental dimensions into educational practices. The problem guiding this study is to understand how digital pedagogical practices can contribute to mental and environmental health care, based on discussions present in the academic literature. The overall objective of this work is to analyze, through a literature review, the contributions of digital pedagogical practices to the promotion of mental health and environmental education in the educational context, identifying trends, convergences, divergences, and challenges pointed out by the analyzed studies. Methodologically, this is a qualitative, exploratory study based on a literature review. Data collection was carried out using the Google Scholar and SciELO databases, encompassing publications in Portuguese between 2013 and 2025. The research corpus consisted of 14 scientific articles, 1 specialization course conclusion work, and 1 book, selected based on previously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data analysis was performed using thematic analysis, allowing the organization of findings into discussion axes. The results show that digital pedagogical practices, when intentionally planned and mediated by active methodologies, favor students' emotional well-being, engagement in the learning process, and the construction of a critical environmental awareness. Convergence was observed among the authors regarding the potential of digital technologies to promote more collaborative and inclusive educational environments, although risks associated with the excessive and decontextualized use of these resources were also pointed out. It is concluded that digital pedagogical practices can significantly contribute to mental and environmental health care, provided they are guided by humanized pedagogical principles, adequate teacher training, and ethical commitment, thus expanding scientific and practical contributions to the educational field.