Cultural perspectives of death, grief, and bereavement.
The cultural makeup of the United States continues to change rapidly, and as minority groups continue to grow, these groups' beliefs and customs must be taken into account when examining death, grief, and bereavement. This article discusses the beliefs, customs, and rituals of Latino, African American, Navajo, Jewish, and Hindu groups to raise awareness of the differences health care professionals may encounter among their grieving clients. Discussion of this small sample of minority groups in the United States is not intended to cover all of the degrees of acculturation within each group. Cultural groups are not homogeneous, and individual variation must always be considered in situations of death, grief, and bereavement. However, because the customs, rituals, and beliefs of the groups to which they belong affect individuals' experiences of death, grief, and bereavement, health care professionals need to be open to learning about them to better understand and help.
Clements
Paul T
PT
College of Nursing, MSC09 5350, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA. pclements@salud.unm.edu
Vigil
Gloria J
GJ
Manno
Martin S
MS
Henry
Gloria C
GC
Wilks
Jonathan
J
Das Sarthak
Kellywood
Rosie
R
Foster
Wil
W
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D001293:Attitude to Death / Q000208:ethnology*; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005655:Funeral Rites / Q000523:psychology; D006117:Grief; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D018596:Hinduism / Q000523:psychology; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000523:psychology; D007585:Jews / Q000523:psychology; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000523:psychology; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D014481:United States