Identifying Indigenous People's Grieving and Funeral Practices as Components for Establishing a Grief Support...

Grieving and funeral practices form an integral component of the culture of indigenous people. Although studies on specific indigenous grief support frameworks could not be found, the authors did find certain studies on the grieving and funeral practices of indigenous people. The study identified a lack of integrative literature reviews on these practices. A review was therefore needed to enable a comprehensive overview that would guide the establishment of an indigenous grief support framework.

This review aims to provide a literature review to identify existing components of indigenous peoples' grieving and funeral practices.

The review was conducted employing an integrative literature review approach and thematic analysis of the concepts relating to indigenous people's grieving and funeral practices. A comprehensive search was conducted by author one and a librarian, whereafter the CADIMA webtool was used.

Fourteen articles (n = 14) were included which reported on indigenous people's grieving and funeral practices. From the articles, a total of 18 different indigenous groups were described.

Indigenous people have specific grieving and funeral practices. Although some of the practices are the same across different indigenous groups, some practices are specific to each indigenous group. The review identified certain components of indigenous people's grieving and funeral practices.

Mental health nurse specialists can use the knowledge of indigenous people's grieving and funeral practices acquired through this integrative literature review to render a culturally sensitive and inclusive service.

Training of mental health nurse specialists should include content about the various cultures and belief systems of indigenous people. A grief support framework should be developed for indigenous people, based on the findings of this review.