We Support Each Other: Lived Experiences of Natural Support among Persons with Disabilities in Ethiopia

Getachew Gebeyaw Tadese is a fourth-year PhD candidate in the Rehabilitation Sciences program at Queen's University, Canada. Getachew received a bachelor's degree in Sociology and a master's degree in Social Work from Haramaya University and Addis Ababa University, respectively. Getachew is interested in disability and caregiving research.

Solomon Mekonnen Abebe (Ph.D.) is a distinguished Professor of Public Health and Human Nutrition at the University of Gondar, Ethiopia, with over three decades of academic, research, and leadership experience. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Health, an MSc in Exercise Physiology, and a bachelor’s in health and physical education. His research expertise spans non-communicable diseases, nutrition, epidemiology, maternal and child health, disability, and community-based rehabilitation, with more than 170 peer-reviewed publications. Currently, he has served as Director of the Institute of Public Health, Director of the Community-Based Rehabilitation Program, and Editor-in-Chief of the DCIDJ. He actively supervises 14 Ph.D. candidates and contributes nationally by evaluating professorship credentials for major Ethiopian universities.

Dr. Nicole Bobbette is an assistant professor in the School of Rehabilitation Therapy. Nicole received a Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Science from Queen's University, a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from Queen's University, and a Bachelor of Arts, Honours in English Language & Literature & Psychology from Queen's University. Nicole's research primarily focuses on supporting the health and well-being of adults and older adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, as well as caregivers.

Heather Aldersey is a Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Therapy and Canada Research Chair (Tier 2), Disability Inclusive Development. A recipient of the Morehead-Cain Scholarship, she completed her Bachelor's degree at the University of North Carolina. She completed her MSc and PhD at the University of Kansas at the Beach Centre on Family and Disability.  Following her PhD, she held a CIHR-funded postdoctoral position at McGill University's Douglas Research Centre. She joined Queen's University in 2014 as a Queen's National Scholar in International Community-Based Rehabilitation. Many of her current research projects are affiliated with the International Center for the Advancement of Community-based Rehabilitation, which she has directed since 2015.