2.2 Explain how the beliefs, religion and culture of individuals and key people influence end of life care

This guide will help you answer 2.2 Explain how the beliefs, religion and culture of individuals and key people influence end of life care.

Caring for someone towards the end of their life goes further than physical needs. It must consider the person’s beliefs, religion, and culture. This includes their values, customs, spiritual needs, and the wishes of key people in their lives. Providing respectful, person-centred care means recognising how these factors shape preferences and choices.

What Are Beliefs, Religion, and Culture?

Beliefs refer to someone’s views about the world. These can be spiritual, moral, or personal. They influence what people value, how they wish to be treated, and their thoughts about dying, death, and what comes after.

Religion involves organised systems of faith. This may include beliefs in a higher power, rituals, sacred texts, and rules for living. Examples include Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. Religious practices can vary widely, even within one faith.

Culture includes traditions, language, values, food, dress, and ways of showing respect. Culture shapes how people approach illness, dying, death, and grief. It can be linked to ethnicity, nationality, community, or even family traditions.

Key people are those most important to the individual. They might be family members, close friends, carers, advocates, or spiritual advisors.

The Role of Beliefs in End of Life Care

Beliefs shape what individuals find meaningful in their final days. They may influence decisions about pain relief, life support, organ donation, and place of death. Some people wish for natural death without intervention. Others might want all options used to prolong life.

Examples of how beliefs affect care:

• One person may decline certain pain relief if it causes drowsiness and prevents spiritual rituals.
• Another may value privacy for prayer or meditation as death approaches.

Care workers must listen and support these preferences. Even if someone’s beliefs differ from their own, professionals need to show respect.

Influence of Religion

Religious views often play a strong part at the end of life. They can guide:

• Attitudes towards medical treatments
• Acceptance or refusal of blood transfusions
• Preferences for prayer and rituals

Examples of Religious Practices at End of Life

Christianity: Many Christians appreciate prayers, receiving communion, and access to a chaplain or priest.

Islam: Muslim people often prefer to face Mecca as death approaches. Family may wish to wash the body after death. Some reject painkillers if they affect mental alertness, since dying with a clear mind is valued.

Hinduism: Hindus may want to chant spiritual texts or have readings. Ritual purification and not disturbing the body after death can be important.

Judaism: Some Jewish people have religious objections to autopsy. Prayers by family and rabbis, and rapid burial, are valued.

Buddhism: Buddhists may wish for a peaceful, quiet environment to meditate during dying. The state of mind at death is very important.

Sikhism: Sikhs may recite prayers and wish to play sacred music. The five articles of faith (like the Kara (bracelet) or Kirpan (small sword)) must be respected.

Communication with Religious Leaders

Religious customs may not always be clear. Care workers should ask individuals what matters to them. If unsure, they can offer to contact faith leaders for advice and support. Some faiths have specific times for rituals, which may influence when and how care or visitors are arranged.

Cultural Influences

Culture is broader than religion. It shapes attitudes about expressing pain, showing emotions, decision-making roles, and even food preferences. What is polite or respectful in one culture may not be in another.

Examples of Cultural Considerations

• Some cultures expect family to stay at the bedside. Others value privacy.
• In some communities, the eldest son or eldest female must make medical decisions.
• Certain groups may prefer male or female health staff.
• Non-verbal communication such as eye contact, touch, or physical closeness can mean different things in different cultures.
• Food and drink have strong cultural importance, especially in rituals or last requests.
• Some cultures are very open in discussing death. Others find it taboo to mention it.

Recognising and working with these differences can help avoid misunderstandings or distress.

The Influence of Key People

Key people have deep knowledge of the individual. Their values and needs often influence the care provided, especially if the person is close to death and cannot state their wishes themselves. This includes deciding on:

• What happens in the final hours
• Who is present
• Religious rites and rituals
• How information is shared with wider family or community

Care workers should involve key people in planning and decision-making, unless the person has stated otherwise. Some individuals may not want family involved, and that wish should be respected.

Key people can clarify any cultural details that care workers are unsure about. They may help interpret language or explain cultural expectations, which leads to more responsive care.

Impact on Decision Making

Beliefs, culture, and religion all affect the decisions people make in their final days. Choices about resuscitation, life support, pain management, and artificial feeding can all be linked to these factors.

It can affect:

• The use of ‘Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation’ (DNACPR) orders
• Understanding of advance care plans
• Whether withdrawal of treatment is acceptable

Some cultures may not use advance decisions, as family is expected to decide together. In others, the wishes of the sick person take priority above all.

A care worker must clarify who has the final say. They must respect legal frameworks, such as the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This law sets out who can decide if the person cannot speak for themselves.

Examples of Conflicting Views

Personal beliefs may clash with those of key people or care teams. For example, an individual may refuse life-saving treatment, while the family request everything possible be done. Or a family may wish rituals are carried out, but the person does not want them.

Resolving such conflict means listening, clear communication, and sometimes involving advocates or faith leaders. Use a calm approach and always put the individual’s wishes at the centre, if they can be expressed.

Record all preferences and conversations accurately. If someone lacks capacity, follow their advance plan or support the key people in making decisions that are in the person’s best interest.

Promoting Dignity and Respect

Respecting beliefs, religion, and culture is vital for dignity at the end of life. Small actions show care and respect:

• Asking before touching the body after death
• Giving time and space for prayer or rituals
• Using the person’s preferred terms or greetings
• Handling personal items, such as rosaries or sacred texts, carefully
• Supporting food or fasting needs

This can help reduce distress for everyone involved.

Supporting Emotional and Spiritual Needs

End of life care means more than physical comfort. Many people experience fear, doubt, or uncertainty. Religious and cultural beliefs often provide comfort. Being able to pray, have a spiritual symbol nearby, or take part in a ceremony, supports coping.

Sometimes, people question their beliefs at the end of life. They may seek new meaning or comfort from faith leaders, counsellors, or family. Workers can offer to contact spiritual care teams, even if someone has not been religious before.

Challenges When Supporting Diverse Needs

Providing care in line with someone’s values takes time and attention. Workers may feel unsure if they are unfamiliar with certain beliefs or customs.

Common challenges:

• Language barriers make it hard to discuss spiritual matters
• Religious beliefs may clash with best medical practice
• Care workers’ personal beliefs differ from those of the person they care for
• Some people change their wishes near death, which may upset key people

To offer good care:

• Ask about any customs, traditions, or rituals that matter most
• Do not make assumptions based on ethnicity, name, or religion
• Respect the person’s right to change their mind
• Use interpreters or advocates if needed

Focus always on what the person wants, wherever possible.

Building Skills and Awareness

Care workers can:

• Attend training about faiths and cultures in their area
• Learn basic language used for everyday needs in diverse communities
• Build links with local places of worship or community leaders
• Reflect on their own attitudes and keep an open mind

Organisations often keep resources or guides to support cultural and religious understanding.

Working Within the Law and Policies

Rules and laws protect people’s rights to have care shaped by their beliefs and culture. The Equality Act 2010 covers belief and religion as protected characteristics. This means care workers must not discriminate or treat anyone less favourably based on these.

NHS and care setting policies also require inclusive care. Not respecting beliefs or religions can lead to complaints or legal consequences.

Communicating with Sensitivity

It can feel hard to ask about private or spiritual matters. Treat every conversation with tact. Use open questions like:

• “Are there any customs or practices that matter to you at this time?”
• “Would you like us to involve anyone to support your religious or spiritual needs?”
• “Is there anything we could do to help support your beliefs?”

If you don’t know, say so, and offer to find out or ask someone who does.

Good communication helps build trust. It reassures the individual and their key people that they will be treated with kindness up to the end.

Final Thoughts

Caring for people at the end of their life is a deep responsibility. By respecting each person’s beliefs, religion, and culture, you honour their life experiences and values. You also support their dignity and comfort.

Every person is unique. Beliefs and culture can guide much more than rituals or food—they shape the whole experience of dying. By listening and offering choices, you help ensure that people, and those important to them, feel respected, heard, and supported. This approach leads to better outcomes for everyone involved, both emotionally and spiritually.

Upholding these values in practice reflects the core aim of health and social care: to put the person at the heart of everything you do.