How to adapt remote receiver to also understand IR signals from a Flipper remote when current box and Genie remote are apparently rf mode.

how can i change the dtv receiver so it accepts both rf and ir signal? we have an ultra-simple remote for my elderly mother-in-law (Flipper brand) which uses IR. The assisted living facility is new and has DirectTV throughout, but the Genie remote RC72H is too complex for her. We want to program her Flipper to change channels, but all codes we've tried do not work. so found out it might be an rf receiver. but elsewhere i found one should be able to reconfigure the directTV remote receiver to accept both rf and ir signals, so that either the genie remote or the Flipper remote will work. But i cannot find the DTV menus that were described.