Existential loneliness is a profound and uniquely subjective condition, often characterized by a deep sense of disconnection from meaning, self, others, and the broader human condition. While it is increasingly acknowledged in care practice, its conceptual integration into professional education remains largely under-theorized. This paper aims to examine how care professionals perceive and make sense of existential loneliness in their daily practice with older individuals and argues, on a theoretical level, for its inclusion as a central component in interdisciplinary training curricula.

Based on findings from a multicenter qualitative study, the paper explores the interpretive frameworks and experiential meanings that care practitioners associate with existential loneliness. Participants articulated the phenomenon as ethically demanding, emotionally taxing, and professionally disorienting. They frequently reported a lack of preparedness and conceptual tools to engage with older people’s existential suffering in ways that go beyond task-oriented care. These insights underscore a significant gap in professional education, specifically, the absence of structured opportunities to reflect on the existential dimensions of ageing and care.

In response, the paper theorizes the educational value of existential themes by drawing upon the principles of transformative learning theory. This perspective positions existential loneliness as a pedagogically generative concept that can stimulate critical reflection, challenge taken for granted assumptions, and promote the development of more authentic, morally grounded professional identities. By engaging students in sustained reflection on themes such as vulnerability, finitude, and the human search for meaning, educational interventions can cultivate the epistemic humility and ethical sensitivity required in complex care relationships.

The paper concludes with theoretically grounded recommendations for curriculum development in care related higher education programs. These include dialogical learning environments, ethically anchored simulation practices, and reflective writing strategies that place existential concerns at the heart of the educational experience. Such approaches aim to shift professional training from a predominantly instrumental logic to a more holistic and humanistic paradigm of care education—one that recognizes not only what professionals do, but who they are becoming.

Keywords: Existential loneliness, transformative learning, care education.