Abstract
Elderly adults who have sustained amputation are often unmotivated to participate in rehabilitation. Whether the individual has peripheral vascular disease, typically diabetic arteriosclerosis, or traumatic amputation, the patient must confront the permanent, visible reality of limb loss as well as markedly disturbed function. Patients are often discouraged by futile medical interventions, and by their lack of identification with the young healthy adults they watch exercising on television. The Motivation Equation, in which motivation equals perceived chance of success times perceived importance of goal, divided by perceived cost multiplied by inclination to remain sedentary provides physical therapists and occupational therapists with opportunities to maximize success while minimizing the physical and emotional cost of rehabilitation.