Dr Raul Szekely
Postgraduate Research Student
BSc (Hons), MSc, AFHEA
Academic and research departments
Digital World Research Centre, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.About
My research project
Using immersive VR to challenge mental health stigma in healthcare educationStigmatising attitudes toward people with serious mental health conditions, such as psychosis and schizophrenia, remain widespread among healthcare professionals and can undermine the quality of care, including for physical health concerns. These attitudes often begin during training and persist into professional practice. While education and contact-based interventions have traditionally been used to address this issue, they are not always feasible or effective in all settings. Media-based approaches, particularly those involving immersive technologies, offer a promising complementary strategy.
My PhD research draws on psychology, media studies, and healthcare education to investigate the potential of virtual reality (VR) as a tool for reducing mental health stigma among healthcare students and trainees. By immersing learners in narrative-driven applications that reflect the lived experiences of people with severe mental illness, VR may support the development of more empathetic and non-stigmatising understandings of mental health. Central to this work is a collaborative approach involving lived experience experts, educators, and developers to co-produce evidence-based interventions. The aim is to embed these tools within mental health education and contribute to long-term improvements in the attitudes and practices of future healthcare professionals.
Supervisors
Stigmatising attitudes toward people with serious mental health conditions, such as psychosis and schizophrenia, remain widespread among healthcare professionals and can undermine the quality of care, including for physical health concerns. These attitudes often begin during training and persist into professional practice. While education and contact-based interventions have traditionally been used to address this issue, they are not always feasible or effective in all settings. Media-based approaches, particularly those involving immersive technologies, offer a promising complementary strategy.
My PhD research draws on psychology, media studies, and healthcare education to investigate the potential of virtual reality (VR) as a tool for reducing mental health stigma among healthcare students and trainees. By immersing learners in narrative-driven applications that reflect the lived experiences of people with severe mental illness, VR may support the development of more empathetic and non-stigmatising understandings of mental health. Central to this work is a collaborative approach involving lived experience experts, educators, and developers to co-produce evidence-based interventions. The aim is to embed these tools within mental health education and contribute to long-term improvements in the attitudes and practices of future healthcare professionals.
University roles and responsibilities
- Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA)
- Academic Tutor
My qualifications
2022 - 2025
PhD Applied Psychology
University of Surrey
2020 - 2021
MSc Organisational Psychiatry and Psychology (Distinction)
King's College London
2017 - 2020
BSc Psychology (First Class Honours)
Brunel University London
Business, industry and community links
Ad-hoc reviewer
- DIGITAL HEALTH (Sage Publications)
- Professional Psychology: Research and Practice (American Psychological Association)
- Journal of Advanced Nursing (Wiley)
- European Congress of Psychology (European Federation of Psychologists' Associations)
- BMC Medical Education (Springer Nature)
- Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR Publications)
- Conference of the Media Psychology Division (Die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie/German Psychological Association)
- Cyberpsychology Section Annual Conference (British Psychological Society)
ResearchResearch interests
- Mental health stigma
- Healthcare education & training
- Psychosocial interventions in applied settings
- Gamification, serious games, VR
- Accessibility & inclusivity in digital technologies
Research interests
- Mental health stigma
- Healthcare education & training
- Psychosocial interventions in applied settings
- Gamification, serious games, VR
- Accessibility & inclusivity in digital technologies
Teaching
I support teaching and learning activities across the following modules as a Graduate Teaching Assistant:
- Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis (PSY1020/PSYM094)
- Social Psychology with Research Methods 1 (PSY1019) and 2 (PSY2016)
- Psychology of Global Challenges (PSY1033)
- Psychology and Game Design 2 (PSYM155)
Publications
Highlights
Peer-reviewed journal articles
- Szekely, R. (2025). Commentary on ‘The Nature of Stigma: Toward a Sociological Engagement with Evolutionary Psychology.’ Deviant Behavior, 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2025.2596788
- Bandukda, M., Xiao, L., Barbareschi, G., Oyier, P., Athiany, H., Szekely, R., Karuguti, W. M., Matheri, M. J., Austin, V., & Holloway, C. (2025). Toward a multi-layer framework to assess the quality of life impact of smartphones as assistive technology for people with sensory disabilities in Kenya. In Proceedings of the 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS ’25) (Article 80, pp. 1–16). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3663547.3746352
- 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, 1-18. 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
Posters & oral presentations
- Szekely, R., Mason, O., & Frohlich, D. (2025, September 11-12). Senua versus Goliath: Analysing player experiences and perceptions of mental illness in immersive VR media [Accepted as poster presentation]. 14th Conference of the Media Psychology Division, German Psychological Society, Duisburg, Germany.
- Szekely, R. (2025, May 22). Virtual reality (VR) to tackle mental health stigma in healthcare students: Key findings and reflections [Oral presentation]. School of Psychology Research Student Conference 2023, University of Surrey, Guildford, England.
- Szekely, R. (2025, January 14). Virtual reality as an innovative tool for mental health education and training [Oral presentation]. School of Health Sciences Insights Symposium 2025, University of Surrey, Guildford, England.
- Szekely, R. (2024, October 1). '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 (VR) [Oral presentation]. People and Technology Research Group Meeting, University College Cork, Cork, Republic of Ireland.
- Szekely, R., Mason, O., Frohlich, D., & Barley, E. (2024, June 19-21). Acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary evaluation of an animated virtual reality (VR) game for reducing mental health stigma in healthcare students and trainees [Oral presentation]. Second International Digital Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference, Ulster University, Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
- Szekely, R. (2024, May 23). Acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary evaluation of an animated virtual reality (VR) game for reducing mental health stigma in healthcare student and trainees [Oral presentation]. School of Psychology Research Student Conference 2024, University of Surrey, Guildford, England.
- Szekely, R. (2024, March 12). Acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary evaluation of an animated virtual reality (VR) game for reducing mental health stigma in healthcare students and trainees [Oral presentation]. Health Psychology Research Group Meeting, School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, England.
- Szekely, R. (2023, November 29). '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 (VR) [Oral presentation]. Maternal, Child and Family Health Research Cluster Meeting, School of Health Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, England.
- Szekely, R., Mason, O., Frohlich, D., & Barley, E. (2023, November 9–10). '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 (VR) [Poster presentation]. International Virtual Reality in Mental Health Conference, University Medical Centre, Groningen, the Netherlands.
- Szekely, R., Mason, O., Frohlich, D., & Barley, E. (2023, June 13–14). The use of virtual reality (VR) to reduce mental health stigma among healthcare and non-healthcare students: a systematic review [Poster presentation]. British Psychological Society (BPS) Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference 2023 ‘Current challenges and innovative solutions in Health Psychology’, Sheffield, England.
- Szekely, R. (2023, April 20). Virtual reality (VR) to tackle mental health stigma in healthcare students: Research progress and next steps [Poster presentation]. School of Psychology Research Student Conference 2023, University of Surrey, Guildford, England.
- Szekely, R. (2022, May 3). Mental health and well-being among Intensive Care Unit (ICU) staff: An occupational psychology perspective [Oral presentation]. Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre Monthly Learning Hour, London, England.
Other publications
- Szekely, R., Mason, O., & Frohlich, D. (2024, December 12). Mental illness portrayals in video games: Can they do good? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/surrey-minds/202412/mental-illness-portrayals-in-video-games-can-they-do-good
- Szekely, R. (2024). A health psychology for all: The case of mental health in health research – Reflections from the DHP conference and ways forward. Health Psychology Update, 33(1), 36-40. https://doi.org/10.53841/bpshpu.2024.33.1.36
- Szekely, R., & Ciobanu, C. (2024). Mental health and wellbeing of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) staff: An occupational psychology perspective. Occupational Psychology Outlook, 3(1), 36-43. https://doi.org/10.53841/bpsopo.2024.3.1.36
- Farmer, G., & Szekely, R. (2024, January 29). The acceptability of serious games for the management of mental health: A brief review of published work. MultiPlay - The Network for Multidisciplinary Research on Digital Play and Games. https://multiplaynetwork.org/2024/01/29/the-acceptability-of-serious-games-for-the-management-of-mental-health-a-brief-review-of-published-work-by-george-farmer-raul-szekely/
- Szekely, R. (2020). Humans are social beings, but to what extent? PsychTalk, 1(96), 10-12. https://doi.org/10.53841/bpstalk.2020.1.96.10