Google Scholar & Orcid ID

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.

Academic article

• Alison Hernández; Ana Lorena Ruano; Bruno Marchal et al. (2017). Engaging with complexity to improve the health of indigenous people: a call for the use of systems thinking to tackle health inequity. (external link)
• Ana Lorena Ruano; Kjersting Dahlblom; Anna-Karin Hurtig et al. (2011). If no-one else stands up, you have to: a story of community participation and water in rural Guatemala. (external link)
• Wasihun Andualem Gobezie; Patricia Bailey; Emily Keyes et al. (2019). Readiness to treat and factors associatedwith survival of newborns with breathingdifficulties in Ethiopia. (external link)
• Maria Guadalupe Ruelas-González; Blanca Estela Pelcastre-Villafuerte; Eric Monterrubio-Flores et al. (2018). Development and validation of a Screening Questionnaire of Family Mistreatment against Older Adults for use in primary care settings in Mexico. (external link)
• Wasihun Andualem Gobezie; Patricia Bailey; Emily Keyes et al. (2019). Readiness to treat and factors associated with survival of newborns with breathing difficulties in Ethiopia. (external link)
• Andrea Melberg; Abdoulaye Hama Diallo; Ana Lorena Ruano et al. (2016). Reflections on the unintended consequences of the promotion of institutional pregnancy and birth care in Burkina Faso. (external link)
• Ana Lorena Ruano; Anna-Karin Hurtig; Miguel San Sebastián (2013). The process of social participation in primary health care: the case of Palencia, Guatemala. (external link)
• Stephanie M Topp; Kerry Scott; Ana Lorena Ruano et al. (2018). Showcasing the contribution of social sciences to health policy and systems research. (external link)
• Maria Guadalupe Ruelas-González; María Beatriz Duarte-Gómez; Sergio Flores-Hernández et al. (2016). Prevalence and factors associated with violence and abuse of older adults in Mexico’s 2012 National Health and Nutrition Survey. (external link)
• Moses Mulumba; Juliana Nantaba; Claire E Brolan et al. (2014). Perceptions and experiences of access to public healthcare by people with disabilities and older people in Uganda. (external link)
• Moses Mulumba; Juliana Nantaba; Claire E. Brolan et al. (2014). Perceptions and experiences of access to public healthcare by people with disabilities and older people in Uganda. (external link)
• Girum Taye; Ana Lorena Ruano; Patricia E. Bailey et al. (2021). Availability and distribution of human resources for emergency obstetric care services in Ethiopia. (external link)
• Ana Lorena Ruano; Silvia Sánchez; Fernando José Jerez et al. (2014). Making the post-MDG global health goals relevant for highly inequitable societies: findings from a consultation with marginalized populations in Guatemala. (external link)
• Claire E Brolan; Lisa Forman; Stéphanie Dagron et al. (2017). The right to health of non-nationals and displaced persons in the sustainable development goals era: challenges for equity in universal health care. (external link)
• Sameera Hussain; Ana Lorena Ruano; Atiya Raman et al. (2014). From knowing our needs to enacting change: findings from community consultations with indigenous communities in Bangladesh. (external link)
• Alison Hernández; Ana Lorena Ruano; Anna-Karin Hurtig et al. (2019). Pathways to accountability in rural Guatemala: A qualitative comparative analysis of citizen-led initiatives for the right to health of indigenous populations. (external link)

Conference lecture

• Nathan Nickel; Ana Lorena Ruano; Mireya Vilar-Compte et al. (2021). Interventions and Policy Approaches to Promote Equity in Breastfeeding. (external link)
• Ana Lorena Ruano; Daniel Maceira; Enrique Peñaloza Quintero et al. (2023). Inequities in health and health systems in Latin America and the Caribbean. (external link)

Conference abstract

• Juan Pablo Lopez Cervantes; Shokouh Makvandi-Nejad; Fernando José Jerez Pietropaolo et al. (2022). Asthma and respiratory symptoms as related to traditional textile industry in Guatemala: a cross-sectional pilot study in Mayan communities. (external link)

Editorial/Leader article

• Ana Lorena Ruano; Daniela C. Rodríguez; Pablo Gaitán Rossi et al. (2021). Understanding inequities in health and health systems in Latin America and the Caribbean: a thematic series. (external link)
• Ana Lorena Ruano; Efrat Shadmi; John Furler et al. (2017). Looking forward to the next 15 years: Innovation and new pathways for research in health equity. (external link)
• Stephanie M. Topp; Kerry Scott; Ana Lorena Ruano et al. (2018). Showcasing the contribution of social sciences to health policy and systems research. (external link)
• M. Vilar-Compte; R. Pérez-Escamilla; Ana Lorena Ruano (2022). Interventions and policy approaches to promote equity in breastfeeding. (external link)

Letter to the editor

• Efrat Shadmi; Yingyao Chen; Inês Dourado et al. (2020). Health equity and COVID-19: global perspectives. (external link)

Academic literature review

• Alison Hernández; Ana Lorena Ruano; Bruno Marchal et al. (2017). Engaging with complexity to improve the health of indigenous people: a call for the use of systems thinking to tackle health inequity. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Google Scholar profile

Publications in PubMed

• 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