Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Director, Center on Poverty and Health Inequities (COPHI)

(PhD, Purdue University)

Research Interests

Families and health, healthcare, couple and family interventions in health, patient-centered care in medical settings, couples and cancer, interventions for couples returning from military deployment

Contact Information

Fowler Memorial House, Room 219
Purdue University
1200 W. State Street
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2055
Phone: (765) 496-8372
Fax: (765) 494-0503
E-mail: cgshield@purdue.edu
Websites: Relationships and Health Care Research Lab  
                Center on Poverty and Health Inequities (COPHI) 
                (Located within the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, RCHE)

MFT Student and Client Forms
 

• Biography
• Recent Publications
• Education
• Courses Recently Taught
• Honors
• External Grants
• Professional Service

Biography

• Dr. Shields has recently received support from the National Institutes of Health to examine physician patient communication. Dr. Shields and Dr. Melissa Franks are also studying patient-spouse communication during medical visits for managing Type 2 diabetes.

Recent Publications

• McDaniel, S. H., Morse, D. S., Reis, S., Edwardsen, E. A., Gurnsey, M. G., Taupin, A., Griggs, J. J., Shields, C. G. (in press). Physicians criticizing other physicians to patients. Journal of General Internal Medicine.
• Shields, C. G., Finley, M. A., Elias, C. M., Coker, C. J., Griggs, J. J., Fiscella, K., & Epstein, R. M. (in press). Pain assessment: The roles of physician certainty and curiosity. Health Communication.
• Edwardsen, E. A., Reis, S., Morse, D. S., Gurnsey, M. G., Taupin, A., Shields, C. G., Griggs, J., McDaniel, S. H.  (in press). Physician dialogues with advanced cancer patients: mostly patient-friendly but often physician-directed. International Journal of Person-Centered Medicine.
• Franks, M. M., Sahin, Z. S., Seidel, A. J., Shields, C. G., Oates, S. K., & Boushey, C. J. (2012). Table for two: Diabetes distress and diet-related interactions of married patients with type 2 diabetes and their spouses. Families, Systems, & Health, 30, 154-165. 
• Shields, C. G., Finley, M. A*., & Chawla, N.*, & Meadors, P. (2012).  Couple and family interventions in health problems.  Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 38(1), 265-280. doi:10.1111/j.1752-0606.2011.00269.x 
• Franks, M. M., Shields, C. G., Sands, L., Lim, E., Mobley, S., & Boushey, C. J. (2011). I will if you will: Similarity in health behavior change of married partners. Health, Education, & Behavior, 39, 324-331. doi:10/1177/1090198111402824 
• Shields, C. G., Ziner, K. W., Bourff, S. A., Schilling, K., Zhao, Q., Monahan, P., Sledge, G., & Champion, V. (2010). An intervention to improve communication between breast cancer survivors and their physicians. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 28(6), 610-629. DOI:10.1080/07347332.2010.516811
• Shields, C. G., Coker, C. J., Poulsen, S. S., Doyle, J. M., Fiscella, K., Epstein, R. M., & Griggs, J. J. (2009). Patient-centered communication and prognosis discussions with cancer patients. Patient Education and Counseling, 57, 437-442. 
• Rosenberg, Tziporah, & Shields, C.G. (2009). The role of parent-adolescent attachment in the glycemic control of adolescents with Type 1 diabetes: A pilot study. Family Systems and Health, 27, 237-248.
• Epstein, R. M., Hadee, T., Carroll, J., Meldrum, S. C., Lardner, J., & Shields, C. G. (2007). "Could this be something serious?" Reassurance, uncertainty and empathy in response to patients’ expressions of worry. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22, 1731-1739.
• Griggs, J. J., Sorbero, M. E. S., Mallinger, J. B., Quinn, M., Waterman, M., Brooks, B., & Shields, C. G. (2007). Vitality, mental health, and satisfaction with information after breast cancer. Patient Education and Counseling, 66, 58-66.
• Epstein, R. M., Shields, C. G., Franks, P., Meldrum, S. C., Feldman, M., & Kravitz, R. L. (2007). Exploring and validating patient concerns: Relation to prescribing for depression. Annals of Family Medicine, 5, 21-28.
• Duberstein, P., Meldrum, S., Fiscella, K., Shields, C. G., & Epstein, R. M. (2007). Influences on patients' ratings of physicians: Physicians' demographics and personality. Patient Education and Counseling, 65, 270-274.
• Burwell, S. R., Brucker, P., & Shields, C. G. (2006). Attachment behaviors and proximity-seeking in cancer patients and their partners. Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy, 5, 1-16.
• Mallinger, J. B., Shields, C. G., Griggs, J. J., Roscoe, J. A., Morrow, G. R., & Rosenbluth, R. J. (2006). Stability of decisional role preference over the course of cancer therapy. Psycho-Oncology, 15, 297-305.
• Mallinger, J. B., Griggs, J. J., & Shields, C. G. (2006). Family communication and mental health after breast cancer. European Journal of Cancer Care, 15, 355-361.
• Franks, P., Jerant, A. F., Fiscella, K., Shields, C. G., Tancredi, D. J., & Epstein, R. M. (2006). Studying physician effects on patient outcomes: Physician interactional style and performance on quality of care indicators. Social Science & Medicine, 62, 422-432.
• Epstein, R. M., Shields, C. G., Meldrum, S. C., Fiscella, K., Carroll, J., & Carney, P. A. (2006). Physicians' responses to patients' medically unexplained symptoms. Psychosomatic Medicine, 68, 269-276.
• Bayer, W., Mallinger, J. B., Krishnan, A., Shields, C. G. (2006). Attitudes toward life-sustaining interventions among ambulatory black and white patients. Ethnicity and Disease, 16, 915-920.

Education

• Post Doctoral Training, 1987-90, Family Therapy Training Program, Division of Family Programs, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester
• PhD, 1987, Marriage and Family Therapy Program, Purdue University
• MDiv, 1980, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC
• BS, 1976, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA

Courses Recently Taught

• CDFS 688: Internship in Marriage and Family Therapy
• CDFS 678: Externship in Marriage and Family Therapy
• CDFS 685E: Interventions in Families and Health
• CDFS 685F: Families and Health
• CDFS 430: Human Sexuality and Family Life

Honors

• 2005, 2006: Susan H. McDaniel Graduate Teaching Award, Awarded by Graduate Students in the Marriage & Family Therapy Masters Degree Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester.

External Grants

• 2011-2016, Co-Investigator, National Cancer Institute, "Social and behavioral influences on clinical communication and pain management." $2,700,000.
• 2010-2011, Co-Investigator, Purdue Research Foundation, Purdue University, "Following doctor's orders: Does patient and spouse communication with healthcare providers improve dietary adherence among patients with diabetes?" $16,795.
• 2009-2010, Co-Investigator, Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, Purdue University, "Following doctor's orders: Does patient and spouse communication with healthcare providers improve dietary adherence among patients with diabetes?" $39,900.
• 2007-2009, Principal Investigator, National Cancer Institute, "Responses of Physicians to Patients’ Inquiries." $330,434.

Professional Service

New York Association for Marriage and Family Therapy

• 1992-1993 Member-at-Large, Board of Directors
• 1993-2003 Member, Legislative Task Force
• 1994-1995 President-Elect, Board of Directors
• 1996-1997 President, Board of Directors
• 1997-1998 Past President, Board of Directors