This is a quantitative study which, using a socio-environmental approach, analyzed the organizational process of work in primary health care. The objectives were to analyze how nurses and physicians identified strategies in order to work the relationship between health and the environment; which environmental problems influence the health oc communities; and how they act as communities in the face of such problems. Structured interviews were carried out with 36 nurses and 19 physicians in two cities in southern Brazil, followed with quantitative and contextual analysis. The question referring to knowledge of the environmental situations which imply effective or potential health risks received a significantly higher average from the nurses (p=0,000) and from the physicians (p=0,042). The lack of basic sanitation, the presence of vectors, inadequate handling of solid residues, and non-paved streets were the environmental problems of the community to which these workers attributed the best averages (p=0,000). It can thus be concluded that the organizational structure of work in primary health care still is not significantly influenced by the health and environment relationship.
Primary health care; Health services; Environmental health; Public health nursing
