Stroke Recovery Support at Home in Clay, AL

Hospitals with an emergency department near Clay: St. Vincent's East in Birmingham (5.0 mi); St Vincent's St Clair in Pell City (17 mi); University Of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham (17 mi). With stroke signs, call 911 rather than driving.

56 Clay residents 65 or older have difficulty dressing or bathing (2.9%; 8.5% in Jefferson County), and 657 have serious difficulty walking: the two kinds of help most often needed in the weeks after a stroke.

At the Alabama median aide wage of $13.39 an hour, 20 hours of help a week comes to about $1,160 a month in wages, which is 36% of the $3,258 monthly median income of Clay households headed by someone 65 or older. Private rates are agreed directly with the caregiver, so yours may be higher or lower. Alabama has no state minimum wage law, so the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour applies to employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (U.S. Department of Labor).

Hiring directly, you agree the rate with the caregiver and usually become the household employer (U.S. Department of Labor rules). Some families qualify for programs that pay for care at home; see Medicaid programs for family caregivers: who can be paid, and the rules in 12 states.