When accessing IRAS to find resources you may find the following hints useful:
- 1. If you were looking for resources within the Comox Valley community, being any area from Fanny Bay to Oyster River, you would use the drop down box on Health Area to highlight Comox Valley (includes Denman Island, Hornby Island).
- 2. The next box is called Community. You would highlight Comox Valley communities from this drop down selection.
- 3. Keyword: Here you would type in a word that represents what it is that you are searching for.
For Example:
If you were looking for assistance or information on alcohol, you would enter the word alcohol.
Hit search!
You will be shown a list of several available resources that could assist you.
Further to that information you can also double click on each resource to obtain a detailed description of the services provided by each agency.
Want to find more specific resources?
Just follow steps 1 - 3 and then look over to the Category Search boxes!
- 4. Look through the Primary Category and choose from the drop down box.
- 5. Look through the Secondary Category and choose from the drop down box.
Hit search!
For example:
We have already chosen alcohol as our keyword, lets see if we can narrow down the resources a little.
Lets try in the Primary Category the drop down box Children/Youth and then in the Secondary Category Children/Youth - addictions
Don't forget to hit search once you have made choices in the Category Search!
See how that changes the resources available.
This has changed the resources available to you by removing the resources that don't specialize in Children/Youth.
Shall we practice another?
Lets try using emergency as our keyword.
Hit search and see the large list that appears with this keyword. Now lets narrow that list down.
Try using Financial and Employment as the Primary Category and Financial and Employment - food and clothing as the Secondary.
See how the resources change?
So, please enjoy using this tool, practice using different keywords along with category choices and within minutes you will have mastered a wonderful tool that will empower you to make informed decisions on resources available to you.
