Cultural considerations of death and dying in the United States.

Culture is not something apart from us. It is always here, and we, like fish in an ocean, may be blind to the water in which we swim. We recommend that, in addition to learning as much as possible about people from cultures other than our own, we consider carefully the cultural roots of our own thoughts and actions. A combination of respectful behavior and a conscientious effort to understand individuals from another culture will go far in enabling us to work well with dying patients from many backgrounds.