A lot of things change when a baby joins a family—and not just for the parents. Newly minted grandparents often go through a transition of their own. Suddenly, couch-potato tendencies are replaced with a whole lot of crawling on the floor, laughter, and general silliness.

Is having a grandkid enough to make a difference to an older person’s physical and mental health?

Sure enough, medical experts back up this transformation. “Being an involved, active, supportive, storytelling grandparent has potential healthy aging benefits,” says Dr. Maria Carney, chief of geriatric and palliative medicine at Northwell Health and co-author of The Aging Revolution: The History of Geriatric Health Care and What Really Matters to Older Adults . Carney, who has cared for older adults for nearly 30 years,

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