ruby on rails - Searchkick Elastic Search where condition like behavior -

using rails 4.2 searchkick , elasticsearch, have conditions set find users:

where_data = {   region: "north america" } results = person.search( query, where: where_data ) 

this works expected , finds person when person.region "north america".

but there other situations person has multiple regions, including north america: "africa; north america". in these cases person not found.

how can customize data or calls operate more like in sql, , find matching instances of full string?

to search person region contains "north america", first try:

person.search "north america", fields: [:region] 

if doesn't work, try adding person model:

class person < activerecord::base   searchkick word_middle: [:region] 

and (after reindex)

person.search "north america", fields: [:region], match: :word_middle 

if still doesn't work, suggest making :region collection in es (please let me know if interested, have done before using searchkick don't recall exact code. can pull , post later)