Stroke Recovery Support at Home in Signal Mountain, TN

Hospitals with an emergency department near Signal Mountain: Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga (7.3 mi); Parkridge Medical Center in Chattanooga (8.8 mi); Commonspirit-Memorial Hospital-North Georgia in Ringgold (19 mi). With stroke signs, call 911 rather than driving.

144 Signal Mountain residents 65 or older have difficulty dressing or bathing (7.0%; 7.2% in Hamilton County), and 234 have serious difficulty walking: the two kinds of help most often needed in the weeks after a stroke.

At the Tennessee median aide wage of $15.45 an hour, 20 hours of help a week comes to about $1,339 a month in wages, which is 20% of the $6,573 monthly median income of Signal Mountain households headed by someone 65 or older. Private rates are agreed directly with the caregiver, so yours may be higher or lower. Tennessee 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 TennCare CHOICES: how to get paid to care for a family member in Tennessee.