Cari, the award-winning virtual wellbeing consultant, is being offered for free to small business owners concerned about the mental health and wellbeing of their people in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. Cari supports isolated remote workers, people on furlough and staff continuing essential work in challenging environments. Users can access one of four free and exclusive 21-day online programmes, with at-risk employees signposted to evidence-based 1-to-1 neuroscience-based coaching.

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.

Immediately providing personalised, compassionate and confidential support, small businesses across the UK are treating Cari as their 24/7 employee counsellor. She empowers people to take control of their mental health, maintaining the high levels of performance and positive resilience they need during this difficult time.

One-of-a-kind and the culmination of over 25 years of rigorous scientific research, Cari is designed to combat all the key wellbeing issues that many of us are currently experiencing – such as stress, anxiety, low mood and fear. She provides instant relief and support to help people on their journey to positive mental health.

“I’m delighted and excited to offer Cari COVID-19 for free to small business owners and their people,” said Maria Paviour, director of Wellbeing With Cari. “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 nation’s #JoySuperSpreaders by getting people into the driving seat of their brains and creating fabulous levels of happiness, performance and wellbeing!”

How does Cari work?

More information about the science behind Cari and a case study involving Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust can be found here.

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; Cari is the only engagement survey to measure both cognitive and emotional responses, providing an outstanding accuracy rate of an individual’s wellbeing of 92%. Seeing beyond a brave face, 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.

Cari 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. Complementing existing wellbeing systems, Cari can actually help to boost their effectiveness 10-fold, providing individuals with tailored support on a mass scale.

With a real duty of care the support doesn’t stop there, with those who may need extra support also being empowered to access evidence based 1 to 1 NeuChem Coaching through their free access to Cari.

“Cari is the tech manifestation of our company purpose, which is simply to bring joy to life,” said Maria. “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.”

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