ABSTRACT
General practitioners and other members of the primary healthcare team will encounter death routinely in the course of their day-to-day work, but some medical and healthcare professionals may have had little training in understanding the different facets of bereavement or the aftercare of bereaved patients. The UK is a multi-ethnic, multicultural society, and it is important for health and social care professionals to consider how members of other faith communities understand death and experience bereavement. Different cultures or faiths acknowledge the need for the expression of emotion in bereavement even though this may sometimes legitimately take the form of anger or aggression rather than tears. With sensitive and timely support, many people emerge from the experience of bereavement with a new sense of pride and self-confidence in their ability to cope with adversity.
