Dr Rachel Forrest

Associate Professor Rachel Forrest of EIT’s School of Nursing is one of our most active researchers. As part of our Q&A series with EIT researchers, she gave us her views.

How long have you been a researcher?

I started postgraduate research (my PhD) in 1997, so 24 years.

2. Why do you enjoy doing (quantitative and qualitative) research?

I believe that human wellbeing, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability are all interconnected. I enjoy research that empowers us to achieve positive outcomes that contributes to mauri ora (healthy individuals), whānau ora (healthy families) and wai ora (healthy environments) hence the diverse range of projects I am, and have been, involved in.

3. What research have you done recently or are currently working on?

The research I am involved in focuses on improving the health and wellbeing of both animals and humans along with nurturing and empowering new and emerging health researchers.
Currently I am working with a team of EIT researcher on a Health Research Council Covid-19 Equity Response Community Action Project in the Rangahau Hauora Māori Stream (HRC Reference: 20/1452) called The M.E.K.E. Initiative: Taking health and fitness to whānau. Other wellbeing projects I am involved with are Building resilience in teenage children and Supporting lifestyle change and vocational rehabilitation for people living with chronic and complex conditions. Recently a large trans-Tasman research team I am part of, completed a project evaluating the role of Nurse and Midwife Navigators.

On the animal welfare front, I work with a team of EIT, Massey and Companion Animal NZ researchers working on the Furry Whānau project exploring human-pet relationships in Aotearoa. In collaboration with The Lincoln University Gene-Marker Laboratory in Canterbury and Gansu Agriculture University in China, I’m also part of a team undertaking molecular genetics research for use in animal breeding. Breeding better animals with the assistance of gene-markers provides a more sustainable, environmentally friendly approach to enhancing animal health and welfare.

4. When and where has or will this be published?

The final report for the HRC project is due in March 2022 and journal publications will be prepared from this. This year’s publications include:
2021 Almost Published

• Harvey, C., Otis, E., Osseirn-Moisson, R., Forrest, R. H., Heritage, B, & Knight, B. (2021) Promoting mental health in New Zealand: Building resilience in teenage children. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies. (Accepted pending revisions)

• Sayer, J & Forrest, R (2021). Te Ao Māori and One Welfare in Aotearoa New Zealand: The case of kurī, dog registration, and local councils. In XXX (Eds), Animal and Organisations (pp. XXX-XXX). SAGE.

• Sayers, J., Forrest, R., & Pearson, M. (2021) Furry families: Intimate entanglements though more-than human domestic dramas. Sociological Research Online (Accepted pending revisions)

2021 Published Harvey, C., Baldwin, A., Brain, D., Heritage, B., Forrest, R., Brown, J., Willis, E., Palmer, J., Hegney, D., Heard, D., Byrne, A-L., Ferguson, B., Judd, J., McLellan, S., Thompson, S., & Bishop, N (2021). Queensland Health Nurse and Midwife Navigator Evaluation: Detailed final research report. Available from Central Queensland University https://www.cqu.edu.au/ ISBN 978-1-921047-92-3 Forrest, R., Awawdeh, L., Esam, F., Pearson, M., & Waran, N. (2021). The Diets of Companion Cats in Aotearoa New Zealand: Identification of Obesity Risk Factors. Animals, 11(10), 2881. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11102881 Burrows, L. E. R., Zhou, H., Frampton, C. M. A., Forrest, R. H. J., & Hickford, J. G. H. (2021). Ovine FABP4 variation and its association with flystrike susceptibility. Frontiers in Genetics, 12, 1019. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2021.675305 Harvey, C., Byrne, A. L., Willis, E., Brown, J., Baldwin, A., Hegney, A. D., Palmer, J., Heard, D., Brain, D., Heritage, B., Ferguson, B., Judd, J., Mclellan, S., Forrest, R., & Thompson, S. (2021). Examining the hurdles in defining the practice of Nurse Navigators. Nursing Outlook. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2021.01.011 Byrne, A. L., Baldwin, A., Harvey, C., Brown, J., Willis, E., Hegney, D., Ferguson, B., Judd, J., Kynaston, D., Forrest, R., Heritage, B., Heard, D., Mclellan, S., Thompson, S., & Palmer, J. (2021). Understanding the impact and causes of ‘failure to attend’ on continuity of care for patients with chronic conditions. PloS one, 16(3), e0247914. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247914 Esam, F., Forrest, R., & Waran, N. (2021). Locking down the Impact of New Zealand’s COVID-19 Alert Level Changes on Pets. Animals, 11(3), 758. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030758