Other Titles
PechaKucha Presentation
Abstract
Purpose: Friendship has long been recognized as essential to human flourishing. St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) wrote about friendship as a source of meaning, growth, and healing. The purpose of this presentation is to explore Augustine’s insights on friendship through a contemporary nursing lens by integrating his teachings with Kristen Swanson’s Theory of Caring. This approach examines how ancient wisdom aligns with modern understandings of relational health, connection, and caring in nursing practice.
Methods: An integrative conceptual approach was used to examine Augustine’s writings and their alignment with Swanson’s Theory of Caring. The presentation incorporates visual art, symbolic imagery, and brief quotations from Augustine to illustrate themes. A narrative storytelling structure guides the audience through the connections between ancient wisdom and contemporary nursing practice.
Results: Across Augustine’s writings, friendship is described as essential for meaning, identity, and the development of the self. Several contemporary parallels emerged. Augustine’s belief that friendship is “the medicine of life” aligns with research showing that social connection improves survival, emotional well-being, adherence, and stress outcomes. His reflections on grief highlight the emotional cost and transformative power of loving relationships. Augustine’s emphasis on honest conversation, mutual growth, patience, and presence parallels core concepts in caring science, including Swanson’s caring processes of maintaining belief, knowing, being with, doing for, and enabling. These processes echo Augustine’s view that friendship forms through deep understanding, accompaniment, mutual care, and shared movement toward growth. Integrative analysis revealed that ancient insights about the human heart align with modern relational health frameworks and reinforce the healing nature of authentic human connection.
Implications for Nursing: This analysis supports the enduring relevance of friendship and caring relationships as foundations for health and healing. Integrating Augustine’s insights with Swanson’s Theory of Caring strengthens relationship-centered nursing that values presence, compassion, and deep listening. Nurses can use these insights to reduce isolation, build trust, and support well-being across settings. This perspective affirms that healing occurs through meaningful connection, belonging, and the shared journey of friendship and caring.
Notes
This is a PechaKucha presentation, and the slide deck contains images instead of text. To compensate for this, the presenter notes are available in the attached slide deck. To see the notes in Adobe Acrobat, go to Tools > Comment or look at your Layers Panel. If the notes were saved as comments or layers, you can toggle them visible.
References:
Augustine. (1998). The Confessions (M. Boulding, Trans.). New City Press.
(Original work published ca. 397–400)
Bouton-Touboulic, A.-I. (2020). Happiness and friendship. In T. Toom (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Augustine’s “Confessions” (pp. 138–153). Cambridge University Press.
Hansen, W. (2018). Augustine and C. S. Lewis on friendship. VII: Journal of the Marion E. Wade Center, 35, 19–30. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48619571
Martino, J., Pegg, J., & Frates, E. P. (2015). The connection prescription: Using the power of social interactions and the deep desire for connectedness to empower health and wellness. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 11(6), 466–475. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827615608788
Solomon, J. (2022). Using the theories of caring to support co-workers and reduce moral distress during a pandemic. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience, 24(6).
Swanson, K. M. (1991). Empirical development of a middle range theory of caring. Nursing Research, 40(3), 161–166.
Swanson, K. M. (1993). Nursing as informed caring for the well-being of others. Image: Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 25(4), 352–357. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1547-5069.1993.tb00271.x
Sigma Membership
Gamma Kappa
Lead Author Affiliation
University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Mixed/Multi Method Research
Keywords:
History, Theory, Stress and Coping, Friendship, Health, Well-Being, Humanistic Education, [Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430]
Recommended Citation
Barr, Emily Anne, "Augustine’s Lessons on Friendship and Health: A Humanistic Perspective on Connection and Well-Being" (2026). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 149.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2026/presentations_2026/149
Conference Name
37th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Conference Year
2026
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-08-12
Augustine’s Lessons on Friendship and Health: A Humanistic Perspective on Connection and Well-Being
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Purpose: Friendship has long been recognized as essential to human flourishing. St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) wrote about friendship as a source of meaning, growth, and healing. The purpose of this presentation is to explore Augustine’s insights on friendship through a contemporary nursing lens by integrating his teachings with Kristen Swanson’s Theory of Caring. This approach examines how ancient wisdom aligns with modern understandings of relational health, connection, and caring in nursing practice.
Methods: An integrative conceptual approach was used to examine Augustine’s writings and their alignment with Swanson’s Theory of Caring. The presentation incorporates visual art, symbolic imagery, and brief quotations from Augustine to illustrate themes. A narrative storytelling structure guides the audience through the connections between ancient wisdom and contemporary nursing practice.
Results: Across Augustine’s writings, friendship is described as essential for meaning, identity, and the development of the self. Several contemporary parallels emerged. Augustine’s belief that friendship is “the medicine of life” aligns with research showing that social connection improves survival, emotional well-being, adherence, and stress outcomes. His reflections on grief highlight the emotional cost and transformative power of loving relationships. Augustine’s emphasis on honest conversation, mutual growth, patience, and presence parallels core concepts in caring science, including Swanson’s caring processes of maintaining belief, knowing, being with, doing for, and enabling. These processes echo Augustine’s view that friendship forms through deep understanding, accompaniment, mutual care, and shared movement toward growth. Integrative analysis revealed that ancient insights about the human heart align with modern relational health frameworks and reinforce the healing nature of authentic human connection.
Implications for Nursing: This analysis supports the enduring relevance of friendship and caring relationships as foundations for health and healing. Integrating Augustine’s insights with Swanson’s Theory of Caring strengthens relationship-centered nursing that values presence, compassion, and deep listening. Nurses can use these insights to reduce isolation, build trust, and support well-being across settings. This perspective affirms that healing occurs through meaningful connection, belonging, and the shared journey of friendship and caring.
Description
This PechaKucha explores St. Augustine’s insights on friendship as a foundation for meaning, connection, and well-being. Using visual art, narrative, and Swanson’s Theory of Caring, the session shows how ancient wisdom aligns with relational nursing practice. Themes include presence, compassion, mutual growth, and the healing power of authentic human connection.