Raul Szekely, BSc, MSc, AFHEA

Profile

As an applied psychologist, I integrate theory, methods, and evidence from social, health, and behavioural sciences, alongside human-computer interaction, to develop and evaluate digital tools and interventions that support learning, improve well-being, and drive positive societal change. I take an inclusive, participatory stance in my work, collaborating closely with diverse users and key stakeholders throughout the research cycle in order to co-produce solutions that are accessible, meaningful, and socially relevant.

I am currently finalising my PhD at the University of Surrey, based in the School of Psychology and the Digital World Research Centre. My research takes a multi-study, multi-method approach to investigate whether, and how, virtual reality can reduce mental illness stigma among healthcare students, with a particular focus on psychosis and schizophrenia. Alongside my doctoral work, I have supported the delivery of teaching and learning activities on the BSc Psychology and MSc Psychology of Game Design and Digital Innovations programmes.

Prior to my PhD, I completed an MSc with Distinction in Organisational Psychiatry and Psychology at King’s College London and a BSc with First Class Honours in Psychology at Brunel University London.

In July 2025, I joined Queen Mary University of London as a Research Associate within the Wolfson Institute of Population Health, working on an NIHR-SPCR funded project. In this role, I lead the evidence synthesis stream and contribute to the development of a digital health intervention with and for people with type 2 diabetes experiencing emotional distress, prioritising accessibility and health equity for underserved communities.

Research

Research Interests:

1. Stigma and health: Examining how negative attitudes and beliefs about health conditions, including mental health, affect patient experiences, healthcare delivery, and clinical outcomes, and developing evidence-based strategies to reduce individual and healthcare professional stigma.

2. Digital (mental) health interventions: Designing, implementing, and evaluating digital tools and interventions, such as apps, websites, chatbots, serious games, and virtual reality experiences, to support and improve physical and/or mental health and well-being.

3. Equity, accessibility, and inclusion in digital technologies: Investigating disparities in digital technology access and use, including how design choices can exclude or disadvantage certain groups, and advancing solutions to improve accessibility and inclusion for disabled people, neurodivergent people, and other underserved groups (e.g., those in rural areas, older adults, ethnic minorities, individuals experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage).

4. Healthcare education and training: Exploring effective approaches to teaching healthcare students and professionals, with a focus on immersive, interactive, and technology-mediated methods that enhance learning, skill acquisition, and clinical competence.

5. Media portrayals of mental illness: Analysing how mental health conditions, such as psychosis/schizophrenia, eating disorders, depression, and bipolar disorder, are represented across various media, including video games, films, TV shows, and social media, and the impact of these portrayals on public understanding and attitudes.

Selected Projects and Collaborations:

• Led a scoping review with University College London's Global Disability Innovation Hub as part of the AT2030 Programme, exploring how the psychosocial impact of assistive technologies for blind or partially sighted people is defined and measured in existing research;
• Conducted a mini-literature review on explainability and AI during a Turing-funded research visit at the People and Technology Group, University College Cork (Ireland), and proposed a psychologically informed lens to understand why people may develop varying levels of trust or confidence in AI outputs;
• Contributed to an Innovate UK-funded project with Maudsley Learning developing a novel, pragmatic, and user-informed quality assurance framework and evaluation process for digital mental health tools, enabling benchmarking of user experience, data security, and evidential robustness;
• Served as a member of the Race and Ethnicity Advisory Group at the Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, supporting the design of more inclusive and representative mental health research studies;
• Facilitated the setup, delivery, and follow-up of large, multi-centre NIHR-funded clinical trials in intensive care units across the UK as part of my research assistantship at the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre;
• Evaluated an online-delivered psychoeducational intervention with Maudsley Learning and King's College London, designed to support the self-efficacy, work engagement, and well-being of healthcare professionals returning to practice after a period of absence;
• Supported a survey-based study with Brunel University London, Dalhousie University (Canada) and other international partners identifying barriers and facilitators to the uptake of health technology assessment among stakeholders in the Canadian healthcare system, partially funded by a Dalhousie Research and Innovation International Seed Grant.

Professional Service and Peer Review:

• Peer reviewer for reputable journals and conferences spanning psychology, health, and digital technology, including Professional Psychology: Research and Practice (American Psychological Association), Digital Health (Sage), Journal of Advanced Nursing (Wiley), BMC Medical Education (Springer Nature), Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR Publications) and the European Congress of Psychology (European Federation of Psychologists' Associations). 
• Member on the Cyberpsychology Section committee within the British Psychological Society, where I co-edit the Cyberpsychology Bulletin - the Section’s newsletter and peer-reviewed outlet publishing updates, commentary, and short research articles on the psychology of digital technologies and online behaviour.

Publications

• Szekely, R., Holloway, C., & Bandukda, M. (2025). Understanding the psychosocial impact of assistive technologies for people with visual impairments: Protocol for a scoping review. JMIR Research Protocols, 14, e65056. https://doi.org/10.2196/65056
• Szekely, R., Mason, O., Frohlich, D., & Barley, E. (2024). Acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary evaluation of an animated VR game for reducing mental health stigma in healthcare students and trainees: A mixed-method study. Mental Health and Digital Technologies, 1(2), 173-192. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHDT-03-2024-0010
• Szekely, R., Mazreku, S., Bignell, A., Fadel, C., Iannelli, H., Vega, M.O., O'Sullivan, O.P., Tiley, C., & Attoe, C. (2024). The efficacy of psychoeducation to improve personal skills and well-being among health-care professionals returning to clinical practice: a pilot pre-post study. The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, 19(2), 61-73. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-11-2022-0089
• Szekely, R., Mason, O., Frohlich, D., & Barley, E. (2024). ‘It’s not everybody’s snapshot. It’s just an insight into that world’: A qualitative study of multiple perspectives towards understanding the mental health experience and addressing stigma in healthcare students through virtual reality. Digital Health, 10, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076231223801
• Szekely, R., Mason, O., Frohlich, D., & Barley, E. (2023). The use of virtual reality to reduce mental health stigma among healthcare and non-healthcare students: a systematic review. Behaviour & Information Technology, 44(10), 2116–2133. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2023.2232049
• Wranik, W. D., Szekely, R. R., Mayer, S., Hiligsmann, M., & Cheung, K. L. (2021). The most important facilitators and barriers to the use of Health Technology Assessment in Canada: a best–worst scaling approach. Journal of Medical Economics, 24(1), 846-856. https://doi.org/10.1080/13696998.2021.1946326