- E-mailana.lorena.ruano@uib.no
- Visitor AddressÅrstadveien 21 Overlege Danielssens hus
- Postal AddressPostboks 78045020 Bergen
Ana Lorena Ruano is a sociologist with a PhD in Public Health from Umeå University, Sweden. Currently, she is a researcher at the Center for International Health at the University of Bergen, Norway, where she leads the ‘Strengthening Agency & Learning across Health Systems in the Americas’ (SALHSA) project focused on building capacity among early-career academics, civil society and policy and decision-makers from Latin America’s relevant public health bodies.
As a practitioner, she serves as the Research and Learning coordinator at the Center for the Study of Equity and Governance in Health Systems, (CEGSS) Guatemala, where she focuses on how institutional learning can help to better support indigenous human rights defenders in the rural highlands of Guatemala. Dr Ruano’s work uses a human rights-approach to the study of equity in health, indigenous health, maternal health, health system strengthening, participation, and accountability in low and middle-income countries.
She is the Editor-inChief for the International Journal for Equity in Health and serves in this position since January of 2023. Previously, she served as the Managing Editor (2009-2022). The journal has a 2023 Impact Factor of 4.8 and is placed in Q1 for the Health Policy and the Public Health, Environmental, and Occupational Health categories.
Main collaborating countries:
- Guatemala
- Colombia
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Ecuador
- Mexico
- Ethiopia
- Uganda
Main areas of work:
- Health Systems and Policy Research
- Primary Health Care
- Social participation
- Citizen-led social accountability
- Legal empowerment
- Indigenous people's health
- Qualitative methods
I teach at the masters and doctoral level and are deeply involved in the development of skills that are equally useful for academics, policy & decision makers, and practitioners. My focus is on teaching qualitative methods, both at CIH at UiB and at Charité Medical University in Berlin, Germany. I also focus on developing skillsets for practitioners in global health through the Center for International Health's internship program.
Through SALHSA, I also train Latin American students in Spanish. Please look at the project website for more information on teaching in Spanish.
- (2022). How can we best help this patient? Exploring mental health therapists’ reflections on medication-free care for patients with psychosis in Norway. International Journal of Mental Health Systems. 1-13.
- (2021). Decolonizing health governance: A Uganda case study on the influence of political history on community participation. Health and Human Rights: An International Journal. 259-271.
- (2021). Cesarean delivery rates, hospital readiness and quality of clinical management in Ethiopia: national results from two cross-sectional emergency obstetric and newborn care assessments. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 11 pages.
- (2020). Triangulating data sources for furtherlearning from and about the MDSR inEthiopia: a cross-sectional review of facilitybased maternal death data from EmONCassessment and MDSR system. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.
- (2020). Global health in the age of COVID-19: Responsive hhr_final_logo_alone.indd 1 health systems through a right to health fund. Health and Human Rights: An International Journal. 199-207.
- (2020). Global Health in the Age of COVID-19 Responsive Health Systems Through a Right to Health Fund. Health and Human Rights: An International Journal.
- (2020). Axes of alienation: applying an intersectional lens on the social contract during the pandemic response to protect sexual and reproductive rights and health. International Journal for Equity in Health.
- (2019). Readiness to treat and factors associatedwith survival of newborns with breathingdifficulties in Ethiopia. BMC Health Services Research.
- (2019). Readiness to treat and factors associated with survival of newborns with breathing difficulties in Ethiopia. BMC Health Services Research.
- (2019). Pathways to accountability in rural Guatemala: A qualitativecomparative analysis of citizen-led initiatives for the right to health ofindigenous populations. World Development.
- (2019). Healthcare workers’clinical knowledge onmaternal and newborn care in Ethiopia:findings from 2016 national EmONCassessment. BMC Health Services Research.
- (2018). Showcasing the contribution of social sciences to health policy and systems research. International Journal for Equity in Health.
- (2018). Oral medicine acceptance in infants and toddlers: measurement properties of the caregiver-administered Children’s acceptance tool (CareCAT). BMC Pediatrics.
- (2018). Oral medicine acceptance in infants and toddlers: measurement properties of the caregiver-administered Children's acceptance tool (CareCAT). BMC Pediatrics. 1-10.
- (2016). Reflections on the unintended consequences of the promotion of institutional pregnancy and birth care in Burkina Faso. PLOS ONE.
- (2015). From knowing our needs to enacting change: Findings from community consultations with indigenous communities in Bangladesh. International Journal for Equity in Health.
- (2014). ‘Born before arrival’: user and provider perspectives on health facility childbirths in Kapiri Mposhi district, Zambia. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.
- (2014). Perceptions and experiences of access to public healthcare by people with disabilities and older people in Uganda. International Journal for Equity in Health.
- (2014). Perceptions and experiences of access to public healthcare by people with disabilities and older people in Uganda. International Journal for Equity in Health.
- (2014). From knowing our needs to enacting change: findings from community consultations with indigenous communities in Bangladesh. International Journal for Equity in Health.
- (2014). Community participation in formulating the post-2015 health and development goal agenda: Reflections of a multi-country research collaboration. International Journal for Equity in Health.
- (2013). The role of social participation in municipal-level health systems: the case of Palencia, Guatemala. Global health action.
- (2018). Community health workers and accountability: Reflections from an international "think-in". International Journal for Equity in Health.
- (2017). Engaging with complexity to improve the health of indigenous people: a call for the use of systems thinking to tackle health inequity. International Journal for Equity in Health. 1-6.
- (2016). Prevalence and factors associated with violence and abuse of older adults in Mexico's 2012 National Health and Nutrition Survey. International Journal for Equity in Health. 1-9.
More information in national current research information system (CRIStin)
- Strengthening Agency & Learning across Health Systems in the Americas (Principal investigator)
"Improving implementation and operation of a One Health platform to combat rabies in Malawi” with Veterinærinstituttet. (Leader of a Work Package)
"Can community health workers contribute to strengthen health systems in Latin America?" with the Dept of Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University, Sweden