The practices and attitudes of people vary from one country to another depending on the culture of the people. The common theme surrounding the attitude towards death and dying is based on the belief of a community about the soul of the deceased, which leads to the performance of rituals and ceremonies. Puerto Ricans comprise of Latinos who have demonstrated a greater external expression of grief towards death with the intensity of grief increasing depending on the suddenness of death. Puerto Ricans have strong family relationships, so they do everything to terminally ill family members do not learn about the seriousness of their illness to protect them from grief is detrimental. This information was the eldest son or daughter. (Purnell, Guide, 337) The patient's family is doing …show more content…
This care is considered the best for him or her. Spending time with the dying loved one allows all to get familiar an inevitable future and to deal with unresolved issues. (Corr, 103) The death rituals of Puerto Ricans are highly influenced by their inclination to Catholic beliefs. According to this belief, death is taken seriously since spirituality is extremely important based on the fact that there is a continuous relationship between the living and the dead. For Catholics, physical suffering in sickness can be treated as a test of faith in God and affect the reluctance to painkillers. Often, they ask God in their prayers for help and health, and seek support from their parish priest. (Purnell, 338)
Some Puerto Rican descendants practice indigenous folk medicine known as Espiritismo or Voodoo, whereby the saints govern rituals. This helps them to believe that there is a stable relationship between death and life, where death is actually a complement of life. A common phenomenon