You have a few choices to explain the activities of the last year.

You can indicate that you took a leave of absence because of illness in your family.
Or, depending on what you may have been doing in addition to treatment,
you could indicate that you were self employed as a consultant – that you wanted to try that avenue after your last job.

Did you take any classes that might be considered as “went back to school” or expanded your skills?
Did you volunteer during that time?
Did you do any temporary work?

In this economy, being unemployed for 8 months is fairly common, so you could say that you were
seeking employment along with one of the other options above.

As an interviewer, I always want to hear what people are doing other than searching for work.
I like to see how they manage and utilize their time.

Also keep in mind that you can list your previous employments only in years. You do not have to list the month and year. That makes it easier to explain a short gap, i.e. your last job was from starting date through 2010.

Hope this helps.

Margot

Hi! Margot,

Thanks for the response. That was really helpful. I did do an online course, introduction to business law during the time that i have been unemployed.