How Do You Select Your Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) & Personal Care Givers (PCG)?

We choose our caregivers based on their experience, skill level, personality and dependability. We look for friendly, caring, honest, and faithful caregivers.

Do You Screen Your Caregivers? How?
Yes. Before we hire Certified Nursing Assistants, they must pass a test on their knowledge. We verify their work references and run criminal background checks on them. We do not require Personal Care Giver applicants to take a test of knowledge, but we do check their work references and run a criminal background check on them as well.

How Are Your Caregivers Trained?
All our Certified Nursing Assistants receive training through an educational program and they are licensed by North Carolina. They are required to maintain their certification and to attend continuing education classes throughout the year.

Personal Care Givers provide no medical services and work with clients that have no serious health problems, but have difficulties with day-to-day tasks. Personal Care Givers are not certified and are not required to attend continuing education classes.

If I Don’t Get Along with a Caregiver, What Can I Do?

If you are not satisfied with the caregiver that you have, we will be happy to find a caregiver that is better suited to your personality. Clients must call the office at (910) 947-3805 and speak with the Agency Director.

Who Pays for Services?
We accept payment from Medicaid and private pay. We do not accept Medicare. Please visit our services and fees page for more information.

How Do I Apply for Services?
We accept referrals for home care from physicians, discharge planners, case managers, and family members from 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday. To make a referral you may stop by our office, or give us a call at (910) 947-3805.

When you call or stop by we will schedule a time that is convenient for you that we can come to your home to meet you and fill out paperwork. If you are a Medicaid client, we will verify that you qualify for in-home care and we will request permission from your doctor. If you are a private-pay client we will set up a payment plan with you. Afterwards we will develop a care plan that is best suited to your needs and a Gentle Touch Home Care employee can immediately start working for you.

Can You Provide Care for Children?
Yes, as long as the care is needed due to a medical condition.

Can I Receive Care if I Also Have Hospice Care?
If you are on Hospice covered by Medicaid, you cannot receive care from Gentle Touch Home Care. However, if you receive Hospice covered by Medicaid, you can receive services provide by Gentle Touch Home Care if you private pay.

If I am Living With a Relative Can I Still Receive Care?
Yes you can. If you are living with several relatives for a set period of time, an individual care plan must be created and maintained for both locations.

What If There Are Two People in the Home That Need Care?
We will be happy to provide care for two clients in the same household. The same caregiver can see both clients on the same day. Each client may receive 2.5 to 3 hours of care each, 5 days a week.

If the two clients would like to receive care from different caregivers, we will be happy to make this arrangement. However, the caregivers must schedule care at different times.

Do You Offer Transportation?
We offer transportation for our private-pay clients only. Transportation is not covered by Medicaid.

If I’m With Another Agency, Can I Switch To Your Agency?
You have the right to choose your home care agency. If you are with another agency but would like to switch to Gentle Touch Home Care all, you have to do is give us a call. We will inform your previous home care agency and we will begin the paperwork to add you to our growing list of satisfied customers.

How Do You Schedule Care?
We will schedule your care based on when you would like us to be in your home. If you are a Medicaid client we can provide care for 2.5 to 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. If you are paying out-of-pocket we can provide as much care as 24 hours a day 7 days a week. We will be happy to provide weekend care for both Medicaid and private-pay clients.

How Do I Get Medicaid?

Please visit the North Carolina Division of Medical Resources for information on qualifying for Medicaid.

What Does Medicaid Cover?

Medicaid will cover 60 hours per month of in-home care. The services that are available to Medicaid clients are listed on our services and fees page. (hyperlink to services and fees page)

Does Gentle Touch Home Care take Community Alternatives Program (CAP) clients?

Yes. At this time we are licensed to take CAP for Children (CAP/C) and CAP for Disabled Adults (CAP/DA).

Who decide about My Medical Care or Treatment?
If you are 18 years or older and have the capacity to make and communicate healthcare decisions, you have the right to make medical decisions about your medical and/or mental health treatment. You should talk to your doctor or other health care provider about any treatment procedures so that you understand what will be done and why. You have the right to say yes or no to treatments recommended by your doctor or mental health provider. If you want to control decisions about your health and/or mental health care even if you become unable to make or to express them yourself, you will need an “advance directive.”

What is an “Advance Directive?”
An advance directive is a set of decisions you give about the health and/or mental health care you want if you ever loose the ability to make decisions for yourself. North Carolina has three ways for you to make a formal advance directive. One is called a “living will”; another is called a “health care power of attorney”; and another is called an “advance instruction for mental health treatment.”

Do I Have to Have an Advance Directive and What Happens if I Don’t?
Making a living will, a health care power of attorney or an advance directive for mental health treatment is your choice. If you become unable to make your own decisions and you have no living will, advance instruction for mental health treatment, or a person named to make medical and/or mental health decisions for you (“health care agent”), your doctor or health and/or mental health care provider will consult with someone close to you about your care.

What is a Living Will?
In North Carolina, a living will is a document that tells others that you want to die a natural death if you are terminally and incurably sick or in a persistent vegetative state from which you will not recover. In a living will, you can direct your doctor not to use heroic treatments that would delay your dying, for example by using a breathing machine (“respirator” or “ventilator”), or to stop such treatments if they have been stated. You can also direct your doctor not to begin or to stop giving you food and water through a tube (“artificial nutrition or hydration”).

What is a Health Care Power of Attorney?
In North Carolina, you can name a person to make medical and/or mental health care decisions for you if you later become unable to decide yourself. This person is called your “health care agent.” In the legal document, you name who you want your agent to be. You can say what medical treatments and/or health treatments you would want and what you would not want. Your health care agent then knows what choices you would make.

How Should I Choose a Health Care Agent?
You should choose an adult you trust and discuss your wishes with the person before you put them in writing.

What is an Advance Instruction for Mental Health?
In North Carolina, an advance instruction for mental health treatment is a legal document that tells doctors and health care providers what mental health treatments you would want and what treatments you would not want if you later become unable to decide yourself. The designation of a person to make your mental health care decisions, should you be unable to make them yourself, must be established as part of a valid Health Care Power of Attorney.

How Do I Make an Advance Directive?
You must follow several rules when you make a formal living will, health care power of attorney, or an advance instruction for mental health treatment. These rules are to protect you and ensure that your wishes are clear to the doctor or other provider who may be asked to carry them out. A living will, a health care power of attorney and an advance instruction for mental health treatment must be written and signed by you while you are still able to understand your condition and treatment choices and to make those choices known. Two qualified people must witness all three types of advance directives. The living will and the health care power of attorney also must be notarized.

Are There Forms I Can Use to Make an Advance Directive?

Yes. There is a living will form, a health care power of attorney form and an advance instruction for mental health treatment form that you can use. These forms meet all of the rules for a formal advance directive. Using the special form is the best way to make sure that your wishes are carried out.

When Does an Advance Directive Go to Into Effect?
A living will goes into effect when you are going to die soon and cannot be cured, or when you are in a persistent vegetative state. The powers granted by your health care power of attorney go into effect when your doctor states in writing that you are not able to make or to make known your health care choices. When you make a health care power of attorney, you can name the doctor or mental health provider you would want to make this decision. An advance instruction for mental health treatment goes into effect when it is given to your doctor or mental health provider. The doctor will follow the instructions you have put in the document, except in certain situations, after the doctor determines that you are not able to make and to make known your choices about mental health treatment. After a doctor determines this, your Health Care Power of Attorney may make treatment decisions for you. An advance instruction for mental health treatment expires after two years.

What Happens if I Change My Mind?
You can cancel your living will anytime by informing your doctor that you want to cancel it and destroying all the copies of it. You can change your health care power of attorney while you are able to make and make known your decisions, by signing another one and telling your doctor and each health care agent you named of the change. You can cancel your advance instruction for mental health treatment while you are able to make and make known your decisions, by telling your doctor or other provider that you want to cancel it.

Whom Should I Talk to About An Advance Directive?
You should talk to those closest to you about an advance directive and your feelings about the health care you would like to receive. Your doctor or health care provider can answer medical questions. A lawyer can answer questions about the law. Some people also discuss the decision with clergy or other trusted advisor.

Where Should I Keep My Advance Directive?
Keep a copy in a safe place where your family members can get it. Give copies to your family, your doctor or other health and/or mental health care provider, your health care agent, and any close friends who might be asked about your care should you become unable to make decisions.

What If I Have An Advance Directive From Another State?
An advance directive from another state may not meet all of North Carolina’s rules. To be sure about this, you may want to make an advance directive in North Carolina too. Or you could have your lawyer review the advance directive from another state.

Where Can I Find More Information About Advance Directives?