Updated June 08, 2015.

The hospital business has become a competitive one. As the over-65 crowd grows exponentially everyday, this age group will become a very important target market for which hospitals will compete.

One way hospitals have already started trying to get ahead of that curve is by designing into their facility a designated Senior Care Unit. This type of unit takes into consideration architectural design, medical equipment and furniture planning, and safety features that seniors (and their adult children) will find most appealing.

In other parts of this series, "Design Tips for Planning Your Senior Care Unit," we've addressed ideas for selecting safe and comfortable design elements for flooring, bathrooms, safe mobility, speedier recovery, equipment and supply storage, and caregiver observation and responsiveness.

Here are some ways to dress up your Senior Care Unit with some finishing touches that will impress this critical patient segment. Some of these details may seem small, but when you put them all together, they create an unforgettable experience that will promote positive word-of-mouth marketing in your community.

Overbed Tables

Overbed table design has come a long way in recent years. We're no longer forced to choose a single rectangular board on a wobbly chrome base. Overbed tables now offer comfort features like drawers, cup-holders, and height adjustability, and ergonomic shapes.

Bedside Cabinets or Night Stands

Bedside cabinets now offer many options such as wood-grain laminate finishes that look like wood, but are far more durable, easier to keep clean, and improve infection prevention.

Some have removable plastic drawer interiors that can be cleaned as part of the room-turnover cleaning protocol. And there are options for metal legs that put the nightstand on risers, thereby making it easy for housekeeping to clean under them. The fewer places dirt and germs can hide, the better.

Patient Chairs

Patient chair manufacturers have finally started to design seating with the patient's comfort in mind, not just the visitor's. Since it is critical to a speedy recovery to get the patient ambulatory, you'll want to make sure the chairs can entice the patient to spend time out of their hospital bed. Recliners that easily recline with simple finger controls are best because then the patient doesn't need to rely on shoulder or arm strength to get comfortable. Get them out of bed for walks and upright sitting and you will be on your way to reducing length of stay data.

Certain recliners come with special features like heat and massage. Seniors can often get cold faster than most, so a chance to st upright, and out of bed, but still stay warm, will help your cause. Some patients, due to their disease state and the treatments associated with it, such as Cancer, can further make a patient feel cold. So these types of chairs can go a long way toward improving your patient satisfaction scores.

Hospitalized seniors who require dialysis can also have their treatments in their room with the right type of recliner chair. Anytime a patient doesn't have to travel through the hospital campus in their patient gown, either for a permanent transition or a temporary one, will be another selling feature that will attract more patients to your hospital.

The Family Zone

Another factor important to healthy recovery and higher patient satisfaction scores is to make your Senior Care Unit inviting for the patients's family members to spend a lot of time there with them. Design ideas:

• A family or visitor zone designed into the patient's room. The patient should have a comfortable chair, but the family should also have room to visit. Think about a sofa, and if possible, include a small wall-mounted writing surface so visitors can plug in their laptop or ipad, or charge a cell phone.
• Outside of the patient room, provide gathering areas that offer families a little bit of privacy, or at least some seating that is organized in a way so that families can gather with the feeling of some degree of boundary from other families. Clusters of lounge chairs, and small kitchen-like break areas are both good ways to engage the family in getting the patient out of their bed, take them for a walk, and spend some time in an environment different from their room.
• Include distractions and stimulations such as fish tanks in the shared lounge areas, and DVD players in the private rooms.
• Artwork that stimulates memory. Soothing scenes, and historical paintings and photographs are best. Abstract art has actually been found to be unpleasant to older patients, causing confusion and irritability.
• Anything information posted on the walls meant for the patients to see should be in large type so that they don't have to strain to read. Remember the same rule when mounting clocks throughout the Senior Care Unit.