[1] Rask received a degree in nursing education from the Kemi Institute of Health Care in 1983, where she became a teacher in 1985.
[1] Rask was elected to the Finnish Parliament in 1991, as the only member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to represent Lapland.
[1][3] She sat on several committees during her time in Parliament, including Environment (1991–1995), Social Affairs and Health (1995–1999), Finance (1996–1999), and the Chancellery Commission (1999).
[2] In June 1999, Rask and education ministers from 28 other European countries signed the Bologna declaration, which proposed the European Higher Education Area in which students and graduates could move freely between countries.
[3] Her doctoral research analysed the results of a 2007 questionnaire about health literacy in secondary schools.