Content area
Full text
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to inform the reader that a commonality in grief and bereavement exists even though it is highly individualized. 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.
Key Words: Grief, Hispanic, Loss, African American, Culture, Cultural, Competence, Latino, Complicated Grief, Class, Bereavement, Dominant Class, Cultural Diversity, Cultural Sensitivity
Health care providers in any setting must be ever mindful of the statement: "to everything there is a season, a time to be born and a time to die" (Nelson, 1972, p.744). Healthcare providers cannot save the world but can provide health care of the highest quality knowing that every need of the patient, family, and community are being met.
Grief and bereavement are normal emotions that are very personal and are accompanied by pain and hopelessness in patients across cultures (Dyer, 2001). They are perceived differently and are therefore highly individualized. Care must be considered and implemented uniquely from patient to patient. No two individuals are alike; therefore, personalization is crucial for successful implementation and outcome of health care delivery.
Grief is a normal emotional response to an external loss, distinguished from a depressive disorder because it usually subsides after a reasonable time (Stegman, 2005). Grief is an emotion that is as real and life altering as love.
Bereavement is the act of taking away or being deprived of something meaningful. This emotion is often shared between family members and can be a group experience. As the population increases, there is a greater demand for health institutions to become culturally sensitive and culturally competent in its delivery of health care.
The need for culturally sensitive educators related to end of life processes and death is on the rise; and health care providers should continue to expand their knowledge of the many ways that people grieve (Sunoo, 2002).
Grief, whether experienced as a result of the loss of a loved one, divorce, cessation of or interruption in a relationship,...