The Rev. Dr. Marta Illueca

On April 14, 2023, the Episcopal Diocese in Delaware, represented by the Rev. Dr. Marta Illueca, Clergy Medical Liaison, joined an expert panel in an unprecedented symposium on “Advances in spirituality and religion-based interventions across the continuum of pain and suffering.” The conference program was part of the official syllabus at the U.S. Association for the Study of Pain (USASP) annual scientific meeting hosted by the Duke Center for Translational Medicine in Durham, NC. In addition to the Rev. Dr. Illueca, three other thought leaders working in the intersection of religion and pain medicine formed the distinguished panel:  Symposia Moderator, Dr. Samantha Meints from Brigham and Women’s Hospital-Harvard Medical School, Dr. Benjamin R. Doolittle, Yale Program for Medicine, Spirituality and Religion, and Dr. Harold G. Koenig, Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Illueca and Dr. Meints are co-creators of the first scientifically validated Pain-related PRAYER Scale (PPRAYERS) and a Bedside Prayer tool for use by patients with chronic pain and their caretakers. The PPRAYERS validation study is published in the Oxford University Press’ academic journal Pain Medicine, a journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. The Pain and Prayer Project, led by the Rev. Dr. Illueca is a ministry of the Episcopal Church in Delaware. For more information, printouts of the publications and resources, including the prayer tool please go to www.painandprayer.com