Health Claim Validity Checker Workflow¶
Specification¶
The full specification below is extracted from Chapter 13: Influences on Health Behavior.
Type: workflow
**sim-id:** health-claim-validity-checker<br/>
**Library:** Mermaid<br/>
**Status:** Specified
Bloom Taxonomy: Evaluate<br/>
Bloom Taxonomy Verb: judge, validate
Learning objective: Evaluate a health claim by walking through a decision
workflow that checks source expertise, evidence citation, funding
disclosure, and consensus with other sources, arriving at a validity/
reliability judgment.
Purpose: Give learners a repeatable process for fact-checking any health
claim they encounter (social media, advertising, word of mouth).
Visual style: Mermaid flowchart with decision diamonds; every node has a
click handler opening an infobox.
Steps:
1. Start: "Claim encountered" — hover/click: "A health claim you saw,
heard, or read that you want to check."
2. Decision: "Does the source disclose expertise/credentials?" — click:
"Look for author bio, degree, or institutional affiliation."
3. Decision: "Is evidence cited (study, data, named source)?" — click:
"A trustworthy claim points to where its facts came from."
4. Decision: "Does the source disclose funding/conflicts of interest?" —
click: "Who paid for this? Product sellers have an incentive to
overstate benefits."
5. Decision: "Do other independent, reliable sources agree?" — click:
"Cross-check with a second source that isn't just repeating the first."
6. End: "Likely valid and reliable" (all checks pass) or "Treat with
caution — verify further" (any check fails) — click: "Explains what to
do next: consult a trusted professional before acting on the claim."
Color coding: Blue decision diamonds, green "pass" path, orange "caution"
path.
Implementation: Mermaid flowchart syntax with `click` directives calling a
JS function that opens a side infobox with the hover text above.