Browsing Bergen Open Research Archive by Author "Blystad, Astrid"
Now showing items 1-20 of 44
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The access paradox: abortion law, policy and practice in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia
Blystad, Astrid; Haukanes, Haldis; Tadele, Getnet; Haaland, Marte Emilie Sandvik; Sambaiga, Richard; Zulu, Joseph M.; Moland, Karen Marie (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2019-09-27)Introduction: Unsafe abortion is a major contributor to the continued high global maternal mortality and morbidity rates. Legal abortion frameworks and access to sexuality education and contraception have been pointed out ... -
The accountability for reasonableness approach to guide priority setting in health systems within limited resources - findings from action research at district level in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia
Byskov, Jens; Marchal, Bruno; Maluka, Stephen; Zulu, Joseph; Bukachi, Salome A.; Hurtig, Anna-Karin; Blystad, Astrid; Kamuzora, Peter; Michelo, Charles; Nyandieka, Lillian N.; Ndawi, Benedict; Bloch, Paul; Olsen, Øystein Evjen; the REACT Consortium (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2014-08-20)Background: Priority-setting decisions are based on an important, but not sufficient set of values and thus lead to disagreement on priorities. Accountability for Reasonableness (AFR) is an ethics-based approach to a ... -
Accountable priority setting for trust in health systems - the need for research into a new approach for strengthening sustainable health action in developing countries
Byskov, Jens; Bloch, Paul; Blystad, Astrid; Hurtig, Anna-Karin; Fylkesnes, Knut; Kamuzora, Peter; Kombe, Yeri; Kvåle, Gunnar; Marchal, Bruno; Martin, Douglas K.; Michelo, Charles Cheembo; Ndawi, Benedict; Ngulube, Thabale J.; Nyamongo, Isaac; Olsen, Øystein Evjen; Onyango-Ouma, Washington; Sandøy, Ingvild Fossgard; Shayo, Elizabeth H.; Silwamba, Gavin; Songstad, Nils Gunnar; Tuba, Mary (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2009-10-24)Abstract Despite multiple efforts to strengthen health systems in low and middle income countries, intended sustainable improvements in health outcomes have not been shown. To date most priority setting initiatives in ... -
Assessing performance enhancing tools: experiences with the open performance review and appraisal system (OPRAS) and expectations towards payment for performance (P4P) in the public health sector in Tanzania
Songstad, Nils Gunnar; Lindkvist, Ida; Moland, Karen Marie; Chimhutu, Victor; Blystad, Astrid (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2012-09-10)Background Health workers’ motivation is a key determinant of the quality of health services, and poor motivation has been found to be an obstacle to service delivery in many low-income countries. In order to increase the ... -
Beyond the law: Misoprostol and medical abortion in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Solheim, Ingrid Holm; Kahabuka, Catherine; Pembe, Andrea; Moland, Karen Marie; Blystad, Astrid (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2020-01)Misoprostol has during the past few years become an important obstetric drug used for different purposes both within and outside hospitals in Tanzania. In this paper, we analyze how misoprostol is perceived, accessed and ... -
Breastfeeding and HIV: experiences from a decade of prevention of postnatal HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa
Moland, Karen Marie; De Paoli, Marina M.; Sellen, Daniel W.; Esterik, Penny van; Leshabari, Sebalda Charles; Blystad, Astrid (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2010-10-26)Infant feeding by HIV-infected mothers has been a major global public health dilemma and a highly controversial matter. The controversy is reflected in the different sets of WHO infant feeding guidelines that have been ... -
The burden of knowing: balancing benefits and barriers in HIV testing decisions. a qualitative study from Zambia
Jürgensen, Marte; Tuba, Mary; Fylkesnes, Knut; Blystad, Astrid (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2012-01-05)Background Client-initiated HIV counselling and testing has been scaled up in many African countries, in the form of voluntary counselling and testing (VCT). Test rates have remained low, with HIV-related stigma being an ... -
The challenge of community engagement and informed consent in rural Zambia: an example from a pilot study
Zulu, Joseph; Sandøy, Ingvild Fossgard; Moland, Karen Marie; Musonda, Patrick; Munsaka, Ecloss; Blystad, Astrid (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2019-07-04)Background: There is a need for empirically based research on social and ethical challenges related to informed consent processes, particularly in studies focusing on adolescent sexual and reproductive health. In a pilot ... -
Challenges of disseminating clinical practice guidelines in a weak health system: the case of HIV and infant feeding recommendations in Tanzania
Shayo, Elizabeth H.; Våga, Bodil Bø; Moland, Karen Marie; Kamuzora, Peter; Blystad, Astrid (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2014-12-23)Background: Clinical guidelines aim to improve patient outcomes by providing recommendations on appropriate healthcare for specific clinical conditions. Scientific evidence produced over time leads to change in clinical ... -
Challenges to fair decision-making processes in the context of health care services: a qualitative assessment from Tanzania
Shayo, Elizabeth H.; Norheim, Ole Frithjof; Mboera, Leonard E. G.; Byskov, Jens; Maluka, Stephen; Kamuzora, Peter; Blystad, Astrid (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2012-06-07)Background: Fair processes in decision making need the involvement of stakeholders who can discuss issues and reach an agreement based on reasons that are justifiable and appropriate in meeting people’s needs. In Tanzania, ... -
Condom availability in high risk places and condom use: a study at district level in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia
Sandøy, Ingvild Fossgard; Blystad, Astrid; Shayo, Elizabeth H.; Makundi, Emmanuel; Michelo, Charles Cheembo; Zulu, Joseph; Byskov, Jens (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2012-11-26)Background: A number of studies from countries with severe HIV epidemics have found gaps in condom availability, even in places where there is a substantial potential for HIV transmission. Although reported condom use has ... -
A critical assessment of the WHO responsiveness tool: lessons from voluntary HIV testing and counselling services in Kenya
Njeru, Mercy Karimi; Blystad, Astrid; Nyamongo, Isaac K.; Fylkesnes, Knut (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2009-12-22)Background: Health, fair financing and responsiveness to the user's needs and expectations are seen as the essential objectives of health systems. Efforts have been made to conceptualise and measure responsiveness as a ... -
The decentralisation-centralisation dilemma: recruitment and distribution of health workers in remote districts of Tanzania
Munga, Michael Aloyce; Songstad, Nils Gunnar; Blystad, Astrid; Mæstad, Ottar (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2009-04-30)Background: The implementation of decentralisation reforms in the health sector of Tanzania started in the 1980s. These reforms were intended to relinquish substantial powers and resources to districts to improve the ... -
'The divorce program': gendered experiences of HIV positive mothers enrolled in PMTCT programs - the case of rural Malawi
Njunga, John; Blystad, Astrid (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2010-10-26)Background For HIV infected mothers in developing countries, choosing to enroll in a prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV program is supposed to represent the first step towards protecting their child ... -
Effectiveness of a girls’ empowerment programme on early childbearing, marriage and school dropout among adolescent girls in rural Zambia: study protocol for a cluster randomized trial
Sandøy, Ingvild Fossgard; Mudenda, Mweetwa; Zulu, Joseph; Munsaka, Ecloss; Blystad, Astrid; Makasa, Mpundu; Mæstad, Ottar; Tungodden, Bertil; Jakobs, Choolwe; Kampata, Linda Milimo; Fylkesnes, Knut; Svanemyr, Joar; Moland, Karen Marie; Banda, Richard; Musonda, Patrick (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2016-12-09)Background: Adolescent pregnancies pose a risk to the young mothers and their babies. In Zambia, 35% of young girls in rural areas have given birth by the age of 18 years. Pregnancy rates are particularly high among ... -
Health workers’ experience of providing second-trimester abortion care in Ethiopia: a qualitative study
Mclean, Emily; Blystad, Astrid; Mirkuzie, Alemnesh Hailemariam; Miljeteig, Ingrid (Journal article; Peer reviewed, 2023)Background Second-trimester abortions are less common than abortions in the first trimester, yet they disproportionately account for a higher burden of abortion-related mortality and morbidity worldwide. Health workers ... -
Health, life and rights: a discourse analysis of a hybrid abortion regime in Tanzania
Sambaiga, Richard; Haukanes, Haldis; Moland, Karen Marie; Blystad, Astrid (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2019-09-27)Background: Unsafe abortion continues to be a major hazard for maternal health in Sub-Saharan Africa, where abortion remains highly controversial and access to safe abortion services is unequally distributed. Although ... -
HIV and infant feeding counselling: challenges faced by nurse-counsellors in northern Tanzania
Leshabari, Sebalda Charles; Blystad, Astrid; De Paoli, Marina M.; Moland, Karen Marie (Journal article, 2007-07-24)Background: Infant feeding is a subject of worry in prevention of mother to child transmission (pMTCT) programmes in settings where breastfeeding is normative. Nurse-counsellors, expected to counsel HIV-positive women on ... -
“I came to escort someone”: Men’s experiences of antenatal care services in urban Ghana—a qualitative study
Ampim, Gloria Abena; Blystad, Astrid; Kpoor, Albert; Haukanes, Haldis (Journal article; Peer reviewed, 2021)Background Male involvement in maternal healthcare has been widely recognized as essential for positive health outcomes for expectant mothers and their unborn babies. However, few studies have explored men’s experiences ... -
I Do Not Want Her to be Doing Anything Stressful’: Men’s Involvement in Domestic Work during pregnancy in Ghana
Ampim, Gloria Abena; Haukanes, Haldis; Blystad, Astrid; Kpoor, Albert (Journal article; Peer reviewed, 2022)Drawing on qualitative research from rural and urban areas, this article contributes to evolving social research in Ghana on possible changes in the gendered distribution of domestic labour. Formulated within debates on ...