Stephen Robert Connor (born 29 December 1950) is an American licensed clinical health psychologist,Dr Stephen Connor, Executive Director, Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance
.

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

. Accessed 11 August 2019. researcher, author, executive 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 ...

consultant. He is the executive director of the

Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance The Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance or WHPCA (formerly known as the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance or WPCA) is an international non-governmental organization based in the United Kingdom. In official relations with the World Health ...

(WHPCA), formerly called the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance (WPCA).NHPCO. (12 January 2016)
Dr Stephen Connor appointed Executive Director of the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance
Ehospice.com. Accessed 26 November 2016. From 1998 to 2008 he served as Vice President of Research and Development at the

National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(NHPCO).Scientific Advisory Board
Stephen R. Connor PhD, Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance
National Palliative Care Research Center (NPCRC). Accessed 26 November 2016. He has promoted global initiatives for hospice and end-of-life care programs through the

World Health Assembly The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states. It is the world's highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states. Th ...

. He has also addressed the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Cur ...

on the need for greater

pain management Pain management is an aspect of medicine and health care involving relief of pain (pain relief, analgesia, pain control) in various dimensions, from acute and simple to chronic and challenging. Most physicians and other health professionals pr ...

in palliative care.

Career

Stephen Robert Connor at the Global Summit on International Breast Health, Vienna, Austria, 2012

Connor worked as CEO of four US hospice programs from 1976 to 1998. From 1998 to 2009 he was Vice President of Research and Development at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. He is the executive director of the

( WHPCA), which has established organizational ties between national and regional hospice programs throughout the world. Connor is also a consultant senior research scholar at Capital Care based in the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgi ...

, and serves as a board member of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement, the Association for Death Education and Counseling, and the Scientific Advisory Board of the US National Palliative Care Research Center. Connor is a member of the

editorial board The editorial board is a group of experts, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take. Mass media At a newspaper, the editorial board usually consists of the editorial page editor, ...

of the ''

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management The ''Journal of Pain and Symptom Management'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal that was established in 1986. It is a continuation of the ''PRN Forum'' (Pain Research News forum), a bimonthly journal published from 1982 to 1985. It is t ...

''. Since 2012 he has been a member of the board of trustees for the International Children's Palliative Care Network, which is represented in the board of the WHPCA. As of 2016 he has served on the board of directors for the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation. As a member of WHPCA, Connor edited a joint publication with the

(WHO) entitled ''Global Atlas of Palliative Care at the End of Life'' (2014). He was also instrumental in the passage of a

resolution at the

(WHA). As of 2019 Connor has published five major books on palliative care.

Positions

In regards to the right to medical care (including palliative care) in Article 25 of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, ...

, Connor implored the

to provide adequate medical use of controlled substances without their misuse, calling access to

pain relief Pain management is an aspect of medicine and health care involving relief of pain (pain relief, analgesia, pain control) in various dimensions, from acute and simple to chronic and challenging. Most physicians and other health professional ...

"a global crisis." Connor asserts that the World Health Assembly's 2014 resolution entitled "Strengthening Palliative Care as a component of Comprehensive Care Throughout the Life Course" is undermined by the pernicious lack of access to analgesics and medical

opioid Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid use ...

s in some countries where stronger technical assistance and public education programs should be required. To emphasize the growing need for palliative care, Connor has highlighted the fact that globally as of 2015 there are more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 5. Connor has also stressed that global healthcare's greatest problem is the almost exclusive attention given to

acute care Acute care is a branch of secondary health care where a patient receives active but short-term treatment for a severe injury or episode of illness, an urgent medical condition, or during recovery from surgery.Alberta Health ServicesAcute care.Acce ...

rather than chronic care of patients.Nick Triggle. (6 October 2015)
UK end-of-life care 'best in world'
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

''. Accessed 26 November 2016.

Works

* ''Hospice: Practice, Pitfalls, and Promise'' (1998) * ''Hospice and Palliative Care, the Essential Guide'' (2009) hird edition, 2017ref name="world health organization bio"/> * ''Global Atlas of Palliative Care at the End of Life'' (2014) * ''Building Integrated Palliative Care Programs and Services'' (2017)

References

External links

Official website

Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connor, Stephen American clinical psychologists Psychology writers 1950 births Living people

Career

Positions

Works

See also

References

External links