Grief and Culture

Despite the fact that we all grieve, “this does not mean that the reasons we grieve, or our access to mourning, is shared, and this is where marginalized communities are impacted differently.”

For many people of color, the fear, exhaustion and constant grief that all come from regularly dealing with various forms of discrimination are compounded when additional trauma piles on.

Health care providers and consumers of health care should realize and understand the potential for bias and miscommunication when there is delivery of care from non-similar cultures. Grief and bereavement are two of many issues existing in the health care delivery system which can result in substandard delivery of care as a result of cultural insensitivity and cultural incompetence.

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.