Cari®, the award-winning virtual wellbeing consultant, and an exclusive 21-day Isolation and Happiness Programme is being offered for free to Sussex Innovation Members concerned about their employees’ mental health and wellbeing in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. Cari supports isolated remote workers, people on furlough and staff continuing essential work in challenging environments. Immediately providing expert, personalised wellbeing support, Cari empowers them to take control of their mental health and maintain the high levels of performance and positive resilience they need during this difficult time.

In the extraordinary environment of the pandemic, our wellbeing is in the spotlight like never before. Occupational psychologist and Wellbeing with Cari director Maria Paviour is on a mission to support the nation and spread positive mental health under these challenging circumstances.

One-of-a-kind and the culmination of over 25 years of rigorous scientific research, Cari is designed to combat the key wellbeing issues experienced at work such as stress, anxiety, low mood and fear by providing instant relief and support to help people on their journey to positive mental health.

Maria Paviour, director of Wellbeing with Cari, said: “We couldn’t be more delighted, to see all our hard work to create and launch Cari COVID-19 come to fruition is hugely gratifying and in line with our purpose. Already helping and in demand, I’m excited to further announce our free offering for SMEs. Bringing joy and happiness to individuals and eliciting our best human qualities is what Cari was designed to do, and now we’re bringing it to people when it’s needed most. I’ve long held the mantra that happiness is contagious and improves your immunity. With Cari, we plan to be the nations ‘Joy Super-Spreader’ by getting people into the driving seat of their brains and creating fabulous levels of happiness, performance and wellbeing!”

How does Cari work?

Visit Wellbeing with Cari here for more information about the science behind Cari and a case study involving Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust.

To develop AI wellbeing consultant Cari, founder Maria Paviour used her specialist background in biology and psychology alongside her understanding of how to actively stimulate the brains neurochemistry to promote positive mental health.

Championing individuals to take control of their wellbeing by providing logical, unbiased and bespoke support through AI-enabled personalised surveys that are fully GDPR compliant and provide an outstanding accuracy rate of 92%. Cari determines subtle nuances often hidden to humans, providing individuals with the tools to better understand their relationship with mental health, while managing stress and anxiety. Using intelligent algorithms to ethically analyse mental health, Cari gives perfectly timed recommendations.

Wellbeing-boosting suggestions include Maria’s proven BENDs®, or ‘brief emotional non-verbal displays’ – simple 2-minute exercises that provide an instant lift to your wellbeing whenever and wherever you need it. Scientifically proven to stimulate the brain’s neurochemistry with posture and physical movement, BENDs are designed to provide individuals with an immediate empowering lift to their mental state, as well as being fun – #BendWithCari is easy and quick to do.

The platform offers a supportive environment where stress is channelled into positive action – unlocking high performance and increased productivity in the workplace by improving happiness and the ability to control and cope with daily challenges. Cari complements can boost the ROI of the public sector’s existing wellbeing support systems 10 fold, providing individuals with tailored support on a mass scale.

With a real duty of care, the support doesn’t stop there, public sector workers, 46% of whom were already struggling with wellbeing in the workplace before COVID-19, and may need extra support can also access evidenced-based 1 to 1 NeuChem® Coaching through their free access to Cari.

Maria added: “Cari is the tech manifestation of our company purpose, which is simply to bring joy to life. Therefore, it is our duty to bring happiness to those who need it most during the crisis – spreading joy to our workforce and subsequently creating more positivity for our country.”

“We implemented Cari because we recognised that it was better to have useful insights, rather than remaining ignorant when it comes to mental health and wellbeing in our organisation. It’s so important to have data about your workforce so you can act upon it to improve performance and reduce the risk of litigious issues. Cari enables us to offer genuine holistic and personalised support to everyone. But also gives the additional, powerful benefit of encouraging our staff to take their wellbeing seriously. They now feel more responsible for looking after their own mental health.”

Director: Transformation, HR and Organisational Development, South East-based Unitary Local Authority

For over 18 years Maria Paviour has focused on the importance of engaging employees and gaining employee commitment.