Overview
Good health is important to everyone. Pew conducts research and provides information and fact-based recommendations to state agencies, hospitals, researchers, and other health partners to help them provide better care. We find and share evidence-based practices to improve Americans’ health and well-being, including services that can prevent suicide, improve mental health care, and treat substance use disorder.
We also have a long-standing commitment to encouraging early-career scientists who are pursuing innovative approaches to lifesaving biomedical research.
People receiving treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs) have a range of health and life goals. Their work toward these goals is often referred to as recovery. Recovery is not a one-size-fits-all outcome, and it doesn’t always mean abstinence from substance use. For many, recovery is about building a better quality of life
A few decades ago, innovation in medicine used to mean a new pill, a new machine, or a new surgical technique. Today, it means a generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that helps to prevent depression, a smartwatch that catches atrial fibrillation to save lives, or a genetic test so easy to use that it can be taken in the privacy of a patient’s home. What we call “medical innovation” has undergone radical changes, and with that comes new challenges: Policies, regulations, guidelines, and, even more importantly, our culture and understanding must change with it so that we can enjoy the benefits of the future of health care.
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Every year since 2021, more than 100,000 people in the U.S. have died from a drug overdose, primarily involving opioids such as fentanyl. And fentanyl has increasingly been found in other drugs, including methamphetamine and cocaine, which has contributed to these overdose deaths.
Like millions of Americans, many Alabamians have been affected by opioid use disorder. From 2006 to 2014, fatal drug overdoses (including, but not limited to, opioids) in Alabama grew 82%. By 2016, the state led the nation in per capita opioid prescriptions, with a rate of 121 prescriptions for every 100 people.
Addressing fentanyl overdose deaths is a bipartisan priority in Congress and statehouses across the country. As a result, many policymakers are working to increase access to drug checking equipment in tandem with greater access to treatment and services for people with substance use disorders.
Our Work
Good health is important to everyone. Pew conducts research and provides information and fact-based recommendations to state agencies, hospitals, researchers, and other health partners to help them provide better care. We find and share evidence-based practices to improve Americans’ health and well-being, including services that can prevent suicide, improve mental health care, and treat substance use disorder.
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Communities throughout the country share common needs: affordable connections to broadband Internet, modern and reliable energy infrastructure, effective responses to mental health challenges, and ways to resolve legal disputes more quickly and fairly. To address these issues, Pew collaborates with states and local governments to find and promote evidence-based solutions that help provide stability and opportunity.
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Nonpartisan, fact-based improvements in federal policy can create jobs, lower costs, and help the nation prepare for the future. When our research shows that small changes can have a big impact, we work across party lines to improve national challenges like housing affordability, internet access, energy reliability, and health care.
Latest In Improve Federal Policy
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Economic opportunity is the foundation of American society. Pew supports national, state, and local efforts to expand opportunity and promote financial well-being. Our work helps people pay off student loans, navigate court proceedings such as debt collection, buy or rent a home, access affordable internet, and save for their retirement.
Latest In Improve Economic Advancement
The global ocean teems with life, and it contributes to the vital cycles that keep people and our planet healthy. But the seas are vulnerable to overfishing, loss of habitat such as seagrasses and mangroves, ineffective fisheries management, plastic pollution, and declining biodiversity. These mounting losses affect the coastal communities that depend on the ocean for food and jobs.
Latest In Protect Marine Life
States and cities are the “laboratories of democracy” in America—the places where lawmakers and governors look for new ways to help their communities succeed. Whether in Pew’s hometown of Philadelphia or any of the 50 state capitals, we help elected leaders respond to the needs of their citizens, use public dollars wisely, fix outdated policies, and build a better future for all.
Latest In Strengthen State Government
Conserving natural spaces conveys benefits far beyond the gains to wildlife and their habitats. As scores of studies show, protecting and restoring lands and waters, particularly when done in close partnership with local communities, also improves people’s lives—and local economies—by increasing tourism and outdoor recreation.