Karin Hanga's PhD Thesis Research Excellence

Winning Ph.D. Thesis: “Developing an initial social rehabilitation needs assessment procedure and the scope of rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities in Estonia“.

On the 11th of December, our CARe Ambassador in Estonia, Karin Hanga won the Main Prize in the Estonian National Contest for University Students with her Ph.D. thesis “Developing an initial social rehabilitation needs assessment procedure and the scope of rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities in Estonia“.

The contest was organized in cooperation with the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, Estonian Academy of Sciences and Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs with the aim to promote research among university students, and to acknowledge students who have achieved outstanding results with their thesis, study, research or scientific publication.

In the award ceremony, Karin said that her professional work is grounded in the belief that everyone has the right to happiness, dignity, and self-determination and to be treated with support and respect, especially in situations where societal help and understanding are needed. Karin hopes to change the paternalistic views about persons with disabilities and would like to continue her efforts to further develop disability services in Estonia and make Estonia a better place to live for everybody.

The supervisors of Karin's dissertation were prof Lauri Leppik from Tallinn University, Estonia and prof Diana DiNitto from Texas University, USA; consultant prof Jean Pierre Wilken from Utrecht University, Netherlands.