In this thesis the experiences of empowerment of the management were charted in the institutions for mentally retarded persons in the local federation of social- and health care of Kainuu. Empowerment is an individual process, in which thinking, feelings and action are deflected. Empowered people are hard-working, ready to be of service and cooperative in their work community. For the empowerment you need freedom, self determination, trust and support. Wellbeing at work is part of the empowerment. At best wellbeing at work is spontaneous developing, coming up with ideas and supporting others. It also means that you concentrate completely on your work. In this thesis are described the factors that allow or prevent the empowerment of the managers. In the background there are changes at work and need to improve the productivity of work and services and the experiences of patients.

The thesis was carried out as a qualitative research. The material for the research was collected in group discussions. The objects of the research were all the managers of these institutions for mentally retarded persons. The managers were invited to discuss in two groups of the themes, that they had gotten in ad-vance. The themes of discussion were founded on the theory of internal feeling of power described by Siitonen. These sessions were recorded and the contents of them were analysed.

The managers taking part in the research felt that they need more authority, more time for planning the everyday work and more organized and regular support from the organisation. They felt that the support from their own group of managers and the collective professional guidance were very important elements for their work. The managers found that negative attitude, resistance and lack of commitment were the challenges in the work. The challenge in further research will be to pursue the empowerment in the work of the managers including measures taken in Kainuu.