Faculty of health sciences

Rachel Forrester-Jones, professor and director of the School of Health Studies in Western’s Faculty of Health Sciences, has been elected to the Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences in the United Kingdom. Forrester-Jones is the only individual from a Canadian institution among the 74 new fellows announced Sept. 3. As a newly elected fellow, she joins a prestigious community of leading professionals in the social sciences. Forrester-Jones’ research focuses on social inclusion, social support networks and protection for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism, as well as people with mental health issues. Her work across the lifespan, including palliative and end-of-life care, has helped change policy and practice to improve individuals’ quality of life. In a release announcing the latest inductees, Academy president Will Hutton lauded the incoming fellows as “the most influential voices in social science today,” whose work is “expanding knowledge, challenging assumptions and generating insights that are informing and even redefining decision making across government, business, education and civil society.” Shaun Boe, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, spoke to the impact and merit of Forrester-Jones’ work. “It is wonderful to see Professor Forrester-Jones recognized for her extensive contributions shaping social policy, working on behalf of people with intellectual disabilities and mental health issues,” he said. “Her breadth of expertise reflects the strength of scholarship within the Faculty of Health Sciences’ School of Health Studies, and we extend our deepest congratulations on this well-deserved honour.” Forrester-Jones is also cross-appointed to the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. There, working with a team that included Dr. Saverio Stranges, Amadeep Thind and Victoria Smye, director of the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, she developed the certificate in Critical Public Health. She also worked with Stranges, Cheryl Currie and other Schulich and health studies colleagues to develop the bachelor of science in public health.  

Standing up for individuals with intellectual disabilities

The primary focus of Forrester-Jones’ research is to further the inclusion of vulnerable adults through social networks and support. “I’ve had the opportunity to help change policy and practice to improve people’s quality of life, and in doing so, also impact their health and wellbeing,” she said. It’s experience she brought to Western five years ago, arriving from the University of Bath, with extensive knowledge as a social scientist, social policy expert and barrister. In the U.K., she also performed stand-up comedy – a pursuit seemingly off the path of an academic career launched through a joint honours degree in sociology and American studies. But it wasn’t a stretch. “My jokes were based on social policy material,” said Forrester-Jones, noting her stand-up gigs drew a loyal following of fans and colleagues in her field. Comedy is also a central theme in her latest book, Tourette’s Syndrome, Stigma, and Society’s Jests. Co-authored with Melina Aikaterini Malli, from the University of Oxford, the book explores how the mass media and humour both reinforce and challenge the social prejudices around Tourette’s Syndrome. It features narratives by comedians living with Tourette’s. Forrester-Jones has long incorporated lived experience of those with disabilities into her work. As part of her PhD research tracing the closure of large psychiatric institutions in Wales in the early 1990s, she lived in a hospital alongside patients with long-term mental health problems, before following them out into the community. In 2002, she became the first female master of Rutherford College at the University of Kent, overseeing the welfare and conduct for 4,500 students across four departments. While working as a professor of social inclusion and as director of the Tizard Centre, a facility internationally renowned for its pioneering research and teaching in intellectual and developmental disabilities, Forrester-Jones developed an interest in legal issues related to vulnerable adults. “People with intellectual disabilities tend to acquiesce and are more liable to make false confessions,” she said. “It can lead to this terrible situation where you have innocent people in prison.” That concern drove her to become trained and qualified as a barrister – while working full-time as an academic. She’s since offered her legal services pro bono, choosing to remain in academia, where she’s made a significant impact, not only for those living with intellectual disabilities, but those caring for them as well. “One of the challenges is older parents caring for adult children with intellectual disabilities. That can be very difficult if they don’t have the social support,” Forrester-Jones said.  

Research with global impact

Forrester-Jones’ research, combining health, social and policy sciences, has taken her across Canada, Europe, the U.K., South America and most recently, North Africa and the Middle East. Her past work includes advising U.K. government bodies on combating social exclusion and providing consultancy to NGOs in Brazil and Spain, helping to bring social-network-based approaches to services across continents. “I would argue social networks are the apex of social inclusion,” she said. “Even though we like to think we are a society that is very keen on equality and equity, stigmatization is still an issue. That leads to prejudice against the group being stigmatized, which then leads to discrimination.” Social networks help remove fear of the unknown and lessen the stigma, Forrester-Jones said.

“People begin to realize that individuals with intellectual disabilities have the same feelings they do – they love, they want romance, to work and retire. They want all the same experiences but are thwarted.” – Rachel Forrester-Jones, director of Western’s School of Health Studies

Forrester-Jones counts working at Western, where she oversees roughly 2,000 health sciences undergraduate students and, together with colleagues, introduced the master’s in health equity and sustainability program, as “one of the best jobs I’ve ever had.” “I love that our school is truly interdisciplinary and this makes a difference to how we teach students to understand health and health care,” she said. Under her leadership, the school has grown substantially and increased its research funding. Forrester-Jones remains an honorary professor in social policy at the University of Bath, where, before joining Western, she saw the opportunity to set up a partnership between the two schools, facilitating research and learning opportunities such as internships and practicums abroad for students at both institutions. She is also the co-chair of the European Task Force on Palliative care for intellectual disability. Later this month, Forrester-Jones heads to the University of Verona, developing a new comparative project exploring community social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers in Italy and Canada. She said she was honoured to have her work recognized in a field that is making meaningful advances to benefit society. “Social science really matters because it helps us to understand people, the economy and manage the many issues individuals and society face. Social science theories about stigma help explain how prejudice and discrimination lead to inequalities in health and social care. Health and social science combined can make tangible differences, through the innovations they facilitate and by guiding good policy decisions,” she said. “If we get it right for the most vulnerable, disabled people and their caregivers, we get it right for everyone.” Learn more about how Western is optimizing health for all.