Being Heard Is the Foundation of Mental Well-Being
Everyone deserves to be heard and understood. Yet expressing how you feel, what is troubling you, or what you need does not come naturally to everyone. Communication can be particularly challenging for children, people with intellectual disabilities, and people living with dementia. When words are not enough or feelings are difficult to express, important signals may go unnoticed.
That is precisely why paying attention to communication is so important for mental well-being.
Space to Express Yourself
In its World Mental Health Report (2022), the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes that mental health requires supportive environments, attention to individual needs, and accessible care. Mental health is not merely the absence of mental health problems, but also the ability to develop, cope with challenges, and participate in the world around you.1
With this in mind, SAMbuddy, the interactive cuddly toy, helps create an environment in which people can express themselves in their own way. The cuddly toy offers a familiar, accessible way to listen, share, and respond. A parent, teacher, or caregiver records a question, story, or message. The child or person receiving care can listen to it at a time of their choosing and record a response. Afterwards, they can continue the conversation together.
This creates space to share something without the need for an immediate face-to-face conversation.
Being Heard, Even When Words Are Difficult
Scientific research into augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) shows that communication aids can help people with disabilities express their needs. A meta-analysis by Walker and Snell (2013), examining 54 studies involving 111 participants, found that AAC interventions can reduce challenging behaviour.2
This is important because behaviour can sometimes signal a need that someone finds difficult to put into words. By giving people more ways to communicate, it can become easier to understand what they are experiencing.
SAMbuddy offers an additional way to support this. For example, a child can talk about something that happened at school, while a person receiving care can respond to a caregiver's question at a quiet moment. The recording can help open up conversations about experiences and feelings. Not as a replacement for human attention, but as an additional bridge to meaningful conversation.
Comfort and Reassurance Through a Familiar Cuddly Toy
A cuddly toy is tangible, familiar, and comforting. This can make it easier to share something personal. SAMbuddy combines that familiarity with a familiar voice and the freedom to choose the right moment to communicate.
Research into therapeutic dolls for people living with dementia also provides relevant insights. A systematic review and meta-analysis by Peng and colleagues (2024) reported positive effects on behaviour and psychological well-being, including reduced agitation.3 These findings relate specifically to therapeutic dolls used by people with dementia and do not automatically demonstrate that SAMbuddy produces the same effects. However, they do illustrate why familiar, tangible aids can be valuable in person-centred care.
For people living with dementia, SAMbuddy can also be used to listen to familiar messages, stories, or music, providing moments of recognition, distraction, or relaxation.
Better Understanding, More Personalised Support
When people have more opportunities to share their experiences and needs, parents, caregivers, and healthcare professionals also gain a better understanding of what is going on. A response recorded at a later moment can, for example, help prepare for a conversation or explore a person's support needs in greater depth.
This can contribute to support that is better tailored to the individual. It may also help make conversations more focused and effective. Whether SAMbuddy actually saves time or leads to better treatment outcomes still needs to be established through practical research.
On the SAMbuddy blog, you can find various research projects and practice-based explorations contributing to this development, including Telling & Connecting by students at HAN University of Applied Sciences, A Cuddly Companion for Difficult Emotions, and the findings of the Being Heard research project.4 These publications help further explore children's needs and the potential role of SAMbuddy.
A Cuddly Toy That Helps Build Connections
SAMbuddy is not a replacement for a parent, caregiver, or healthcare professional. The cuddly toy makes it possible to communicate in a different way: at a time of one's own choosing, in a familiar environment, and with room for a personal response.
Because mental well-being also begins with the ability to express yourself, feel heard, and experience meaningful connections with others. SAMbuddy aims to contribute to this by making communication more accessible and creating space for stories that might otherwise remain untold.
Who Is Affected by the Problem of Not Being Heard?
Healthcare professionals, teachers, and parents who notice concerning behaviour in someone they care for, teach, or raise, and who want to respond with appropriate support. This includes:
- Children in special education, children with intellectual disabilities, or children who have experienced trauma;
- Children with autism, children experiencing bullying, or children growing up in difficult family circumstances, such as divorce, long-term illness, or the death of a family member;
- Refugee children who have experienced trauma during their journey;
- People living with dementia.
Facts and Figures
Education and healthcare professionals encounter these challenges every day among their students and clients with mental health difficulties. Parents experience them when their child does not fit into the mainstream education system or lives in an unsafe home environment.
A survey of 250 healthcare and education professionals shows that:
- 75% of their clients have learning difficulties and do not receive the support they need. Often, it is unclear what is really going on;
- 50% of these individuals feel lonely or experience emotional distress.
In June 2022, the WHO published a report on mental health worldwide:
- 1 billion people live with a mental disorder, including 140 million adolescents under the age of 18.
- 1 in 100 deaths is caused by suicide, with 58% occurring among people under the age of 50.
- People with mental disorders die 10–20 years earlier.
- Child abuse, bullying, and victimisation are major contributing factors to depression.
- Depression and anxiety have increased by 25% since the COVID-19 pandemic.
How Large Is the Target Market?
In the Netherlands:
- 350,000 children experience bullying, loneliness, or unsafe home environments.
- 34,000 children attend special education schools.
- 62,000 children with intellectual disabilities receive daily care and support.
For SAMbuddy:
- The realistically obtainable market is 3% (based on sales figures for other social robots used in healthcare and education).
- The available market consists of 450,000 children in the Netherlands.
- The addressable market comprises 140 million adolescents worldwide.
Sources: cbs.nl | hetvergetenkind.nl | www.ocwincijfers.nl | zorgkaartnederland.nl | vzinfo.nl | unhcr.org | unicef.org | nji.nl
1. World Mental Health Report: Transforming Mental Health for All
2. Walker, V. L. & Snell, M. E. (2013). Effects of Augmentative and Alternative Communication on Challenging Behavior: A Meta-Analysis. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 29(2), 117–131
3. Peng, Y. et al. (2024). Doll Therapy for Improving Behavior, Psychology and Cognition Among Older Nursing Home Residents with Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Geriatric Nursing, 55, 119–129
4. Research and Practical Experiences with SAMbuddy. Explore Telling & Connecting, A Cuddly Companion for Difficult Emotions, A Trustworthy Robot Friend for Primary School Children, and the findings of the Being Heard research project. Discover all articles on the SAMbuddy blog.
Our Approach
The bond of trust between the client and the caregiver is essential when using the Vertelknuffel. Each client is unique, with their own needs and preferences in usage. We believe in the continuous exchange of knowledge and experience.
On the other hand, we do not want to burden future generations with overproduction and waste of resources. It would be terrible if Vertelknuffels were left unused in a closet while we know they could benefit so many people.
That is why we offer the Vertelknuffel as a subscription service. Use the Vertelknuffel for as long as you need and then return it. We will find it a new home. Your subscription will automatically end.
Let’s Connect!
For children at home or clients in care and education institutions, we offer ‘full-service’ support through different subscription plans.
And... Do you want to help a child yourself? You can also donate a Vertelknuffel! Check out this page.(open new window)
SAMbuddy was born on February 1, 2020, with the idea emerging during the Epe Creaton.
SAMbuddy-effect
Provides insight into the request for assistance
Reduces the tension between client and caregiver
Increases the clients self-confidence
Regulates increased emotion and tension
Achieves early results during treatment processen
Read more about the 'SAMbuddy-effect'
user-experience
Do children tell their dilemmas to a cuddly toy?
Children with multiple intellectual disabilities used the Storytelling Cuddly Toy as an intermediary because it gave them more peace to choose their own words at their own time;
A number of children learned how to discuss a dilemma with an adult by first speaking. After which they are more likely to dare to tell their story directly;
Did a 'trauma' emerge in the middle of the night, which the child also sensed that she had to talk about;
Mother's voice had a reassuring effect as soon as a girl with Down syndrome woke up at night and could listen to a recorded story from mother. She even made her own bed from a shoebox for the cuddly toy;
Calmed down a child by briefly 'ranting' at the Storytelling Cuddly Toy after he was angry because the teacher had not responded to his story in class;
Children gave the Storytelling Cuddly Toy its own name;
One child thought the Storytelling cuddly toy looked like a strong man without a head. For another child it was an anchor;
A child liked to hear over and over again that the parents love her and that she can tell anything;
Spoke a child short things during a night when she couldn't sleep.
privacy and datasecurity
version: 25-08-2025
1. Introduction
Due to the processing of special categories of personal data, information security in healthcare and education is very important. The law requires healthcare providers and educational organizations to have and apply a solid information security policy. Protecting privacy-sensitive information of employees and clients/students is of utmost importance.
The explanation in this document answers questions about privacy and data protection during the use of Vertelknuffel SAMbuddy. This provides a clear understanding of the functionality of Vertelknuffel SAMbuddy, where data is stored, and who has access to that data.
Vertelknuffel BV, as a supplier and service provider, aims to make every effort to explain privacy and data protection as clearly as possible, thereby removing this barrier to the use of Vertelknuffel SAMbuddy.
2. Services
Vertelknuffel SAMbuddy improves mental well-being by supporting communication between client and caregiver. Discover earlier what is going on, making guidance more effective!
It is a soft cuddly toy that can record clients’ stories, which the caregiver can replay via the app. Without internet or network connection. As soon as the client holds down the record button, the story is stored on the Vertelknuffel. The caregiver can record responses, songs, or stories, so the client can play them back and/or respond.
3. Relevance
Engaging Vertelknuffel BV as a supplier or service provider is an important decision, and like any collaboration, this must be based on trust. Therefore, in this document, Vertelknuffel BV provides transparency and clarity about its security, compliance, and operational policies.
Vertelknuffel BV emphasizes that this product is a Minimal Viable Product (MVP), and is currently being optimized to become a fully-fledged and certified tool for healthcare and education.
Vertelknuffel BV will, every 3 years or in the case of a contract change/renewal, contact the organization to have this list re-evaluated and updated to meet the then-applicable security requirements and already implemented measures.
4. Security
- Through a Wi-Fi access point and a (generic) password, there is access to the app and data on Vertelknuffel SAMbuddy. Wi-Fi name and password can then be changed there. In case of loss of a self-chosen password, Vertelknuffel SAMbuddy must be reset to factory settings. All stored data will then be permanently deleted.
- Data is stored only on the internal SSD storage (32GB) of Vertelknuffel SAMbuddy.
- Data is not shared with third parties and is only available on Vertelknuffel SAMbuddy. There is no connection to the internet or local organization network.
- Only with the Wi-Fi password is there access to the data on Vertelknuffel SAMbuddy. This concerns mp3/wav audio and a LOG file. These can also be deleted and downloaded by the administrator, after which the responsibility for this download lies with the administrator.
- The LOG file records firmware version, date and time of button actions, activation of Bluetooth, downloads, and administrator consent. This log file can be downloaded via the app in the Settings tab.
- On Vertelknuffel SAMbuddy no personal data is requested, stored, or shared. When opening the app, explicit consent from the administrator and implicit consent from the client is requested once for data management, including replaying and deleting audio files.
- For administrative purposes, we store the contact details of the organization and contact person(s) in our secure environment. This data is not shared with third parties outside the organization of Vertelknuffel BV.
- Recording is only possible as long as holds down the record button.
Other
- The app running on Vertelknuffel SAMbuddy is a so-called Captive Portal and does not need to be installed. However, the app can be updated by downloading and installing an ota file that Vertelknuffel BV provides exclusively with a version number via www.vertelknuffel.nl/update. This ota file only updates the app and leaves the data untouched. The firmware version number can be found in the app, under the Update tab.
- Vertelknuffel SAMbuddy is provided on a subscription basis. Warranty, replacement, or repair are included as long as the subscription runs.
- After termination of a subscription or pilot, the Vertelknuffel must be returned to avoid waste of raw materials. After a pilot, a subscription for a longer period can be taken if desired.
- A data processing agreement will be concluded upon request, as well as the execution of a DPIA.
- Access to the portal on Vertelknuffel.nl, for example about a pilot, is purely informative in nature and contains no personal data. Vertelknuffel BV will always first request permission if such a need arises.
- Vertelknuffel BV is not responsible for damage caused by incorrect use of the product, based on the manual available at that time. All agreements with Vertelknuffel BV are governed by Dutch law. In cases not covered by these terms, Vertelknuffel BV reserves the right to make additional arrangements with the organization.
- In the event of functional problems or data loss, Vertelknuffel BV should be contacted as soon as possible via the email address info@vertelknuffel.nl or telephone number: +31 614657653. As a supplier, Vertelknuffel BV will work together with the organization to arrive at an adequate solution.
Conclusion
The Storytelling Cuddly Toy:
- provides earlier insight into the request for help;
- makes treatment time more efficient;
- helps improve communication;
- does not connect to the internet;
- does not share data via the internet or with third parties;
- does not require access to the organizational network;
- can be managed by logging in to the offline Wi-Fi access point on the Storytelling Cuddly Toy;
- Logs anonymous user and download permission on local storage can be reset to factory settings, which permanently erases all recordings, settings and logging;
By purchasing Vertelknuffel SAMbuddy, the people of social workplace and sewing workshop UnIk in Breda are supported. With great love and care, they make the soft, allergy-free Vertelknuffel from recycled materials.
Vertelknuffel BV strives to make all visual expressions and use of Vertelknuffel SAMbuddy (digitally) accessible.
