12-month résumé gap, advice? - what worked for you?

I took time out to care for a family member after working as an IT help-desk technician. I have been trying to stay organised about it. I have done some volunteering and a course during that time. What do you say in interviews?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it last year, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.

I listed the volunteering and course under the same dates and kept the explanation to a sentence in the cover letter.