African American is a politically correct term used to refer to blacks in the United States. The roots of many African American rituals can be traced to African cultural rites. However, it is important to note that not all Black people in America identify with African cultural roots. Therefore, some of the rituals found in what many in the United States call African-American culture derive from Caribbean and other cultural traditions. For this reason, when making end-of-life decisions or organizing funerals, the “cultural identification, spirituality and social class” with which the individual identifies must be taken into account. The black majority in the United States identifies with Afrocentric traditions and perspectives. For this reason the term African-American will be used in this article to denote the black population present in America as comparisons are made on how end-of-life decisions are viewed and made by African-American culture compared to traditional Western European beliefs of American culture. (Barrett, 2002). When considering “the four primary dimensions of care for those facing death,” one can find both similarities and differences between African-American cultural beliefs and what have been considered traditional American cultural beliefs when ending life . life decisions. Although both cultures share the physical need to satisfy one's physical needs, they differ in how physical discomfort is viewed. American culture often wants to downplay perceived distress and discomfort as a way to deal with the situation. However, some cultures may ignore the natural desire to minimize discomfort (Corr, 2009). African-American culture is one of these cultures. African Americans who are making end-of-life decisions about... middle of paper... need bereavement support. Journal of Pastoral Counseling, 3847-57. Retrieved from the Academic Search Complete database. Rhodes, R., Teno, J., & Welch, L. (2006). Access to hospice for African Americans: Are they informed about the hospice option?. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 9(2), 268-272. doi:10.1089/jpm.2006.9.268.Scales, T., & Streeter, C. (2004). Rural social work. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole/Thomson Learning.Tschann, J., Kaufman, S., & Micco, G. (2003). Family involvement in end-of-life hospital care. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 51(6), 835-840. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2389.2003.51266.x.Welch, L., Teno, J., & Mor, V. (2005). Black and white end-of-life care: Race matters to the medical care of dying patients and their families. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 53(7), 1145-1153. doi:10.1111/j.l532-5415.2005.53357.x.