Hand burns are classified as serious injuries even if they affect less than 5% of the total body surface area. This is because hand burns can cause disabling deformities and disabilities, including loss of fingers, loss of sensation, pain, and decreased range of motion. (cita2) Children with burns: focused activity versus mechanical exercise and the article Influences of targeted activity versus mechanical exercise on improving pain and hand function in pediatric burn have both studied the use of activity targeted with respect to exercise. Focused activity is the term most often used in occupational therapy literature to identify therapeutic activities that are goal-directed and characterized by a purpose and meaning determined by the person participating in the activity. (AOTA) The first article, Children with Burns: Focused Activity Versus Mechanical Exercise (Melchert-McKearnan, Deitz, Engel, & White, 2000), included two 6-year-old boys who had suffered a second- to third-degree burn that resulted in involved one or more extremities with potential impairment of mobility in at least one joint. Both participants were recruited from the burn unit of a West Coast medical center. Both participants had unremarkable past medical history and were referred for range of motion therapeutic services to improve functional performance. The children were involved in alternative treatment conditions with targeted activities and mechanical exercises. In condition one; each child and his or her parents were interviewed to determine activities that were intentional and meaningful to the child. For each child, eight to ten play activities were modified and designed by the researcher to promote mobility... middle of the paper... established activity quotas, this could result in a state of exacerbated pain, which usually was being delayed. for several hours. This delayed pain can result in subsequent avoidance of activity, distress and anxiety, increased use of pain medications, and a lack of motivation for further physical retraining. (Omar et al., 2012). The authors of both articles said that if future research shows that this is a finding that applies to children as well, then pacing the activities could be helpful. Works Cited Melchert-McKearnan, K., Deitz, J., Engel, J.M., & White, O. (2000). Children with burns: Focused activity versus mechanical exercise. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 54(4), 381-390. Omar, M. T. A., Hegazy, F. A., & Mokashi, S. P. (2012). Influences of purposeful activity versus mechanical exercise on improvement of pain and hand function in pediatric burn injury. It burns, 38(2), 261-268.