Frequent Questions

Gentle Touch Assisted Living helps to keep families together. Everyone enjoys the comforts of their own home and in-home care is very important in times of illness when families want to be near one another for support. Many risks, such as flu, infection or falls, are caused by being in unfamiliar surroundings and are eliminated or minimized when care is provided in the home.

Our services are available for clients of all ages, from newborns to seniors that range from short-term help after a hospital stay, to ongoing support with day-to-day tasks and activities. We provide a wide range of care services performed by our highly qualified GTAL team including, but not limited to, Personal Support Workers (PSW), Registered Nurses (RN) and Registered Practical Nurses (RPN) for short-term care after a hospital stay, to ongoing support with day-to-day tasks and activities. Upon request, there are other professional services that are available to you as well.

A Personal Support Worker or PSW is a health provider that delivers care to those that are not fully able to care for themselves. Our family of PSW’s are carefully screened, fully insured, licensed and certified to provide you with the best possible service available.

Any time, day or night – as little, as much or as often as you need, including holidays and weekends.

Gentle Touch Assisted Living Personal Support Workers will provide services on-time, according to the schedule set up with the clients’ preferences. But when situations arise outside of that schedule, GTAL can offer emergency service on short notice. We will make every effort to meet our client needs no matter the time of the day, or the day of the week.

Indeed we do! We often find that families want or need supplemental care. Hospitals often are not able to provide the one-on-one level of care our clients are comfortable with or require. We work with hospital staff to ensure that our clients receive the level and quality of care they expect and are entitled to. Retirement homes and Long Term Care facilities are not usually equipped to care for clients who need significant levels of assistance. We help by providing the personal care required, which enables clients to remain in a setting that they are comfortable with.

Gentle Touch Assisted Living serves the all Toronto-GTA areas and Cities of York, Peel, Halton, Durham, Grey Bruce and Simcoe County. If you are out of the Toronto area, please call us toll free at 1-844-888-GTAL (4825).

To discuss how we can help you or a loved one, call us at 647-894-GTAL (4825) or email us at info@gtalontario.com and a health care representative will contact you promptly. We will arrange an appointment to review your care requirements and how we can support them, answer all of your questions about services, costs and start putting together your tailored care plan. Usually, we can start providing you with the care you need as soon as possible.

Every clients needs are unique. Our team works in partnership with clients, caregivers, family members and health care providers to focus on meeting your specific needs. Our health care specialist will contact you to arrange your free on- site assessment to discuss your situation and create a tailored care plan just for your loved one.

Absolutely! GTAL is a registered Private Health Care company with the Community Care Access Centre and a number of our clients have actually come to us through CCAC. If you are currently receiving assistance from CCAC, we will require your time allowance schedule in order to create a scheduling solution that works for everyone.

All Gentle Touch Assisted Living PSW’s have received their certifications through recognized educational institutions. All candidates are carefully screened to ensure they meet our company’s requirements which includes Vulnerable Sector Screening, Criminal Records checks, vaccinations must be up to date including hepatitis and the flu shot, First Aid and CPR certified and WHMIS trained (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information Systems).

Once it has been established that the caregivers meet the technical requirements, all references are checked and credentials reviewed. With over 18 years experience in hiring and managing staff, our President personally interviews and looks for those genuinely interested in working with the elderly or people living with disabilities and have the qualifications to do so. She looks for individuals who are positive, confident and responsible and who understand the responsibilities associated with working with our clients while ensuring they have a professional, caring and compassionate personality. Only the best suited PSW’s are able to join our family of caregivers.

We take great care in assessing and selecting the employee that would best suit your requirements and personality, however; if you do not like the match we made for you, we will be happy to provide you with another employee match. Your care plan is tailored to meet your specific needs and we will not send you a PSW that is not able to meet your care and service needs. If at any time your needs change, simply call our office and we will promptly adjust it for you. You are in control to make any adjustments, shift duration or scope of service during a shift.

In this instance, we would send you a replacement caregiver for that day with prior notice.

Gentle Touch Assisted Living is a proudly Canadian owned company. All of our caregivers speak, read and write English. We make our best effort to provide you with multi-lingual caregivers, when requested. Let us know if you prefer someone who speaks another language in addition to English.

We try to establish long-term PSW relationships with our clients. A strong connection and sense of trust is important to a successful experience. If a client receives home care for many hours in a day or at different times of the day throughout the week, we may need to schedule more than one staff member to better assist you. But our goal remains the same- ensure a relationship that satisfies you which leads to the best results.

Medication adherence is critically important to remaining safe at home. Gentle Touch assisted Living PSW’s ONLY assist with medication reminders or provides you with your pharmacists pre-packaged daily organized medications, as prescribed by your physician.

The list of non-medical service is endless. Below is the list of the most common duties performed by our expert Personal Support Worker’s:

PERSONAL CARE – Bathing, dressing, toileting, continence, dining assistance, medication reminders, encouraging physical movement, assist with regular exercise and customized fun interactive memory games/activities.

HOMEMAKING – Light housekeeping duties are included; ensuring the home is maintained, warm and healthy meals are prepared. As an example; laundry, linen changing, cleaning, fixing beds, washing dishes, postal services, pet care and safe transportation to errands or appointments is all part of non-medical home care.
*If you are interested in transportation services, please advise us during your initial assessment.

COMPANIONSHIP – Direct joyful companionship and transportation to social activities, errands or to places of worship. Our goal is to create a positive, happy and healthy environment for your loved one. Often time, chronic illness and depression go hand-and-hand. We find different ways to help older adults to remain socially engaged which prevents loneliness and depression.
*One way we do this is by offering you FREE VIDEO CALLING during our visit with your loved one!

Our PSW’s are fully trained with a wide range of illnesses, disabilities and disorders which makes them experts in identifying and understanding how unique every ones health care needs truly are. Seniors and Adults Alzheimer’s Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Cancer Dementia Depression (Major, Chronic, Manic, Postpartum, etc.) Diabetes Gout Hearing Impairment Heart Attack or Stroke Disabled Accident Victims Kidney Condition or Disease Heart Disease High Blood Pressure or Cholesterol Incontinence Lung Disease Obesity Osteoarthritis Osteoporosis Palliative Care Parkinson’s Disease Vision and Eye Diseases Liver Condition or Disease Children and Young Adults Asperger’s Syndrome Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Autism Spectrum Disorders Cancer Cerebral Palsy Central Auditory Processing Disorder Cystic Fibrosis Deaf / Blindness Accident Victims Down Syndrome Epilepsy Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Heart Condition or Disease Intellectual Disability Kidney Condition or Disease Muscular Dystrophy Spina Bifida Traumatic Brain Injury For a complete detailed list, please visit:
www.medicinenet.com/diseases_and_conditions/alpha_a.htm

Our caregivers are employees and not contractors, so this protects the client from any liability. We pay all the caregivers federal and local taxes, insurance, workman’s compensation, vacation pay, etc.

You will receive a complimentary initial assessment with a Gentle Touch Assisted Living Case Manager before your home care begins. During this assessment, we will identify any areas within the home which need to be addressed to ensure the safety of the client and the caregiver. Areas like loose carpeting, which could cause a fall, or loose handrails on the stairs will identified and suggestions will be made to remedy and improve any issues to make day-to-day living more comfortable and easier for you loved one. After all, our goal is to help you safely stay in your home for as long as possible and teach skills needed to maintain your independence.

This depends on the nature and level of the home care services and how often you need them. A GTAL Case Manager will assess your situation and work with you to develop a plan that meets your needs and budget.

Depending on your coverage and the services required, some of the costs may be covered by your health plan. You will have to ask your health plan provider for further details.

We encourage you or your accountant to contact Revenue Canada directly as there are always new programs and ongoing changes to existing ones such as; the Ontario tax benefits and credits for seniors and people living with disabilities of all ages. For further information, please visit the CRA website at:

Seniors: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/seniors/

People With Disabilities: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/sgmnts/dsblts/

We do not charge HST as our staff is hired by us and is on the Gentle Touch Assisted Living payroll. We take care of all government remittances associated with being an employer. All our staff is covered by Workers Compensation or WSIB.

Our Case Manager will sit with each client prior to services being conducted and complete a service agreement which outlines the details, prices, dates and type of service being agreed upon. This Agreement is NOT a contract. The client or the provider can make changes to the service at any time. All clients are invoiced on a semi-monthly basis and your receipt will include the details of the services provided for the associated costs. We accept payment by Interac e-Transfer and for your convenience, we also arrange a pre-authorized Visa or MasterCard payment

All Gentle Touch Assisted Living employees comply with and have signed a Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) agreement. All client information is kept confidential and secure. At no time are names or address of our clients discussed with anyone and at no time are client lists or information shared with outside sources or third parties without the written consent of the client.

Space in long-term care (LTC) residences are determined solely by need, which means after taking extensive time to fill in all of the appropriate Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) forms, making appointments and physically visiting your choices from the list of LTC facilities, you must select a minimum of six homes as suitable options for your loved one. Once you have completed this process, they are placed on a waiting list. Even in an urgent situation, this wait can range between six and eighteen months, leaving you to care for them while waiting for a space to open. More popular LTC facilities have much longer waiting periods often exceeding two years. Once the CCAC calls you with an opening, you MUST accept this availability because if you do not, you must start this entire process all over again forcing your loved one to wait on another lengthy list.

Privately owned LTC residences that are NOT associated with the CCAC can usually accommodate you much quicker but the cost for this option is exorbitant. This process is stressful, emotional and daunting for those making these decisions for their loved one. You want to make the best choice for them and ensure that they will be well taken care of. GTAL helps relieve you of the stress and pressure you endure once you commence this process by keeping your loved one safely, comfortably and happily in their own home.

For more information about CCAC, please visit: www.healthcareathome.ca

When deciding on whether to receive private care or not, other living situations available to seniors should be evaluated. In Ontario, long-term care (LTC) costs vary depending on the type of suite, duration of stay and length of stay. According to the CMHC’s Senior Housing Report, in 2014, the average cost of renting a more ‘modest’ senior housing space in Ontario can range from $2200.00 to $3250.00 per month, while privately owned LTC facilities that offer you a range of luxurious services with monthly costs ranging from $4900.00 to $9800.00 per month. This is not affordable for many, which results in family members assuming responsibilities for meeting the personal care and supervision needs of their family members. Many people find it difficult to be there for ageing or disabled family members because the needs of their own careers and children are preventing them from helping as much as they would like to. Most people requiring assistance prefer to stay in their own home surrounded by their own special mementos and furnishings. At GTAL, our goal is to affordably maintain our clients’ independence in their own home while keeping them comfortable and enhancing quality of life.

Just as with leaving children unattended in the home or car, all areas have different ages and enforcement of these laws which often depends on the circumstances. If your loved one is unable to leave their bed or has advanced Alzheimer’s or dementia – say if a fire broke out while they were at home alone and was injured or perished in the fire (or even rescued at the last moment) as a result, you can be charged with criminal neglect and would likely have a very difficult time mounting a defence, even if you had just run out for a moment to pick up their medication. A good solution to this would be to ask a neighbour to stay with them until you return. Leaving bedridden patients unattended for long periods of time may develop pressure sores. These sores are deep wounds formed by the pressure exerted on bony areas affecting individuals confined to the bed or those who are immobilized. These are frequently reported as a common complication, although avoidable. Painful, aggravating the existing disability, pressure sores are not accidental, but the result of the person’s caregiver negligence in assessing risks and preventing it.

Private care service is best provided by reputable providers, such as Gentle Touch Assisted Living that have properly registered their business operations. Independent individuals may advertise their services in classified ads or rely on word of mouth referrals. There are implications surrounding hiring an independent person that should be considered. If you secure an individual to provide you with care, you are now become an employer and are responsible for making all the correct tax deductions, CPP and EI deductions, determine vacation and statutory holiday pay and ensure you pay the required WSIB premiums on an ongoing basis, all while working within the regulations of the Employee Standards Act (ESA). In addition, it is important to ensure that your independent provider has met the proper educational requirements, completed background criminal and vulnerable sector checks and is maintaining their PSW, CPR, First Aid certifications and liability insurance annually.

On the surface, an independent provider can be attractive because they may offer lower hourly rates, but be aware that lower rates does not always translate to a more efficient or highest quality care solution. Also, if the caregiver is sick or suddenly resigns, you are stuck with the daunting task of finding someone to replace them immediately. The family of Personal Support Workers at Gentle Touch Assisted Living are hired because they are found to be the most skilled, professional, caring and compassionate PSW’s in our community. Most importantly, you the client don’t have to worry about interviews, background checks and reference validation. We take care of all government remittances associated with being an employer and all our staff are covered by Workers Compensation (WSIB). Our goal is to make having caregivers working with you and/or your family as worry free as possible.