Ásgeir R. Helgason (born 1957) is an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic scientist working at

Karolinska Institutet The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. The Karolinska Institute is consist ...

in Sweden. Since 2002 he has been an associate professor in psychology at the Departments of Oncology-Pathology and Public Health at the

and Reykjavik University, Iceland. He is best known for his population based research on

sexual function Sexual function is how the body reacts in different stages of the sexual response cycle, or as a result of sexual dysfunction. Relevant aspects of sexual function are defined on the basis of a modified version of Masters and Johnson's work. The aspe ...

and

emotional isolation Emotional isolation is a state of isolation where one may have a well-functioning social network but still feels emotionally separated from others. Population-based research indicates that one in five middle-aged and elderly men (50–80 years) ...

in elderly men and prostate cancer patients, patient trade-off and his work on

smoking cessation Smoking cessation, usually called quitting smoking or stopping smoking, is the process of discontinuing tobacco smoking. Tobacco smoke contains nicotine, which is addictive and can cause dependence. As a result, nicotine withdrawal often m ...

and

quitline Quitline is a telephone helpline offering treatment for addiction and behavior change/issues. Presently most quitlines treat tobacco or alcohol addiction. Quitlines are treatment centres that offer advanced treatment and should not be confused with ...

s. Helgason was a prime mover in the establishment of the Swedish and Icelandic national quitlines for smoking cessation (1998) and responsible for their development. He was also engaged in the development of a similar telephone based

proactive Proactivity or proactive behavior refers to self-initiated behavior that endeavours to solve a problem before it has occurred. Proactive behavior involves acting in advance of a future situation, rather than reacting. It refers to taking control o ...

treatment for people who seek help for controlling their alcohol consumption (alcohol

). Other work includes research on

motivational interviewing Motivational interviewing (MI) is a counseling approach developed in part by clinical psychologists William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick. It is a directive, client-centered counseling style for eliciting behavior change by helping clients to e ...

and

palliative care Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...

Followed by an ethical analysis of facilitating death talk in end-of-life care Ásgeir has two sons, Hugi and Muni, after Odin's ravens Huginn and Muninn. His brother-in-law is writer and humorist Tim Moore, his father is scientist Helgi Valdimarsson and he is a brother of scientist Agnar Helgason.

References and sources

*PhD thesis (1997): Prostate Cancer Treatment and Quality of Life – a Three Level Epidemiological Approach *Sexual function in middle aged and elderly men

*Emotional isolation in elderly men

*Smoking cessation - quitlines

*SvD - on emotional isolation (Swedish)

*Aftonbladet - on emotional isolation (Swedish)

*DN - on oral tobacco (Swedish)

*DN debatt (Swedis
Samtal om döden/Death talk''List of scientific publications'' at ''US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health'' Death talk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helgason, Asgeir 1957 births Asgeir Helgason Asgeir Helgason Asgeir Helgason Living people