Dying is the final stage of life which will eventually lead to death. Diagnosing dying is a complex process of clinical decision-making, and most practice checklists facilitating this diagnosis are based on cancer diagnoses.

The National Cancer Institute in the United States advises that the presence of some of the following signs may indicate that death is approaching:

Cultural attitudes toward death vary significantly across societies and serve important existential and social functions. Many cultures use rituals, beliefs, and practices to process mortality, maintain social bonds, and reinforce a sense of continuity beyond physical death. In some cultures, emphasis is placed on rituals that support the dead and the community; in others, there is a greater focus on caring for the living, with death-related rituals having declined in importance. These cultural differences affect people's lifestyles, behaviours, and approach to death and dying.

In many African societies, death is viewed as a communal event with spiritual and social significance, though practices vary across regions and ethnic groups.

Among the Asante people of Ghana, death is perceived as a preordained event. Medical intervention to prolong life is often considered inappropriate, as it may interfere with one's destined path. Social obligations are fulfilled through elaborate funerals that affirm the continuing relationship between the living and the deceased. Ancestors are believed to play an active role in the lives of the living, offering protection, health, and fertility. In return, the living are expected to honour their ancestors through ritual and remembrance. Among the Ga people of southern Ghana, funeral customs include the use of figurative "fantasy coffins" (abebuu adekai), which are elaborately designed and symbolically represent the life or profession of the deceased.

The Zulu of South Africa regard burial as a passage to the ancestral realm, marking the deceased's transition into an ongoing spiritual presence.

For hunter-gatherer societies such as the Hadza of Northern Tanzania, the !Kung Bushmen of Botswana and Namibia and some Pygmy groups in Central Africa, mourning is generally short-lived and lacks elaborate rites. These groups often express little concern for an afterlife, a reflection of their immediate return economies, social organisations and values. The cooperative, egalitarian, and present-oriented nature of social structures results in limited investment in the past or future. Succession and inheritance are minimal concerns due to the absence of significant personal property.

The Nyakyusa of East Africa observe gender-differentiated rituals: women weep while men engage in dancing, fighting, and sexual activity. Property, in the form of cattle, is passed down the male line. If the deceased is male, he is believed to transform into a warrior spirit; if female, she becomes the mother of warriors. These rituals are expressions of masculinity and social renewal. Funeral ceremonies last approximately a month, allowing relatives to gather. Attendance at funerals is socially mandated; absence by relatives may signify a break in kinship ties, while villagers who do not attend may be suspected of witchcraft, as witches are believed to avoid their victims’ funerals for fear of being exposed.